


Lifting the Veil

by Cat_Lady_Without_Cats



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Book 5: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Character Bashing, De-Aged Harry Potter, Do Not Post on Other Site, Good Severus Snape, M/M, Manipulative Albus Dumbledore, Mpreg, Multi, Not Beta Read, Not Canon Compliant, Sane Tom Riddle, Slow To Update, Sporadic Updates, Unexpected pairings, de-aged character, extreme OOC, revamped
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-25
Updated: 2020-07-16
Packaged: 2020-07-19 17:53:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 26,802
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19978114
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cat_Lady_Without_Cats/pseuds/Cat_Lady_Without_Cats
Summary: When Harry gets de-aged after a potions accident, things start to unravel. Things are not as they seem. What has been told, might not be true; what can be seen, might not be real. How far does the manipulation go?This is revamped version of an old work. I pulled that down due to personal reasons. I hope you give this the same love you gave to the other one. I will try to upload semi-regularly, but I can make no promises.On that note, it was brought to my attention that my work is hard to swallow for some, as I twist the characters a bit too much. I have taken that under advisement and here is a warning, please do not read if you do not like works that do not adhere to the normal story-line, have character deviations or any other deviation at all. Please do not read this if that is not your cup of tea.If you like works that are personal interpretations and deviate from the normal story line, please do read and leave me your feedback.Any and all mistakes are mine, I don't have a beta.Thank you for reading that, I do hope you did. Please enjoy this story.I do not permit anyone to post my work on any site.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I have taken the characters created by J K Rowling and played with them a bit. I do not own Harry Potter, nor do I make money off this work.
> 
> Please let me know if I miss any tag or warning.

Looking back at it all, Severus Snape could clearly see that Potter had always attracted trouble, wherever he was. Since the first day he set foot in the school, he had been surrounded by friends and enemies alike, enemies being more in number. So when the boy did not enter the classroom along with his peers, not that he would ever accept it, but Snape was worried. For even the normal school corridors were dangerous to the young teen, what with Umbridge and the dubious Inquisitorial Squad prowling everywhere.

The fifth year students took their seats, shuffling into their places quietly. What surprised Snape was the fact that Weasley and Granger were sitting together, where Weasley and Potter shared the work space. Though he was intrigued, he did not show it. As the students settled, he noticed Longbottom was the only one left without a partner.

“Today, we’ll revise the Wit-Sharpening Potion. As you have made it only once before, I will allow the usage of books, though this will not be a partner class, everyone will be making their own potion.” He began.

The door to the classroom was thrown open as he finished speaking. The missing boy stood leaning on the door, his breath coming in gasps.

“Potter, 5 points for being late.”

“I was with Madam Pomfrey, sir.” The boy gasped. “I have the slip.”

He crossed the room over to him and held up the pass, still panting lowly. Must have run the whole way here, Snape thought. The professor took the slip from the boy’s limp grasp and motioned him to the only seat left. He flicked his wand towards the board, his spidery writing appeared, showing the name of the potion they were to make. 

He took to walking around the class, keeping an eye on everyone, looking out for any mistake that could be troublesome. As he walked to the front of the class, he missed one of his Slytherins throwing something towards Harry’s cauldron. The mystery ingredient bounced off Harry’s cauldron rim, and fell into Neville’s already precarious concoction.

Harry felt as if everything was happening in slow motion. He saw the ingredient bounce off his cauldron rim, which then fell into Neville’s. He saw the now dangerous potion bubble ominously. Snape was at the front of the class, he saw the man turn, slowly. The potion bubbled over the sides, Harry felt himself pushing Neville out of harm’s way. Then the potion exploded.

Harry felt the hot potion land on him, his face, his hands, his chest, his glasses saved his eyes. His clothes formed somewhat of a barrier against the potion. He heard someone calling his name before he lost consciousness.

Snape caught Harry before he could fall off his stool. The class was standing moot in shock. He picked up the boy, a thought passing through his head about the boy’s weight.

“Class dismissed. I want a two foot parchment on the positives and negatives on the usage of Wit- Sharpening Potion.” He snapped.

Turning towards the door, he carried the boy out towards the Infirmary, all the while, he wondered what had made the potion explode. Looking at the boy in his arms, he saw the potion turning transparent from its blue colour. He quickened his pace, cursing the volatile nature of the potion preventing him from magically transporting the boy directly to the infirmary.

He heard footsteps behind him, turning his head, he saw Weasley, Granger, and surprisingly Draco following him. Not slowing down he rushed into the infirmary.

“Poppy.” He called out to the medi-witch.

“What is it Severus?” the medi-witch said, coming out of her office. She saw the man carrying Harry towards one of the beds. She rushed towards them, ignoring the students who’d followed the man inside. Severus had laid the boy down on the bed and was scraping something off the boys skin, glasses and clothes.

“What happened?” She asked.

“Potion exploded, I am taking samples if there is any need for anti-dote or the like.” The Potions Master replied.

“What potion?”

“Wit- Sharpening, it was a revision, I don’t know how or what made it explode.”

From the corner of his eye, Snape saw Granger say something to the Weasley boy to which he nodded and left the infirmary. Madam Pomfrey had cast a cursory diagnostic charm over Potter, the parchment flew out of the tip of her wand. The parchment showed the headache she’d treated some minutes ago and then some burn irritation the boy would have felt if he was awake and nothing else. She passed it over to the man to read.

“There is nothing here that could have made him lose consciousness.” The man murmured to himself.

“Yes, I say we wait for him to regain consciousness on his own.”

“Alright.” The man nodded.

“Everything alright Severus?” 

The man turned towards the voice. The Headmaster stood at the Infirmary doors, the Weasley boy behind him. So that’s where he went, Severus thought to himself.

“Yes, Headmaster. The boy is just unconscious. Poppy wants to wait for him to regain consciousness on his own.”

The Headmaster nodded solemnly; “Of course, how long do you think that will take Poppy?” he now turned to the medi-witch.

“I can’t say Headmaster. There is no reason he should be unconscious, but he is.” 

“You will inform me of course when the boy awakens” the Headmaster said.

“Of course.” Poppy inclined her head in acquiescence.

“Very well then. Severus, Poppy. Come with me Ms. Granger, Mr. Weasley.” He motioned to the two.

Snape looked around for Draco who he was sure had followed him too, but the boy was nowhere to be seen.

“You can go back to your classes Severus I’ll take care of him.” The medi-witch said.

“Yes, I should get started on these samples too, now that we can’t discern a reason for Potter to be unconscious.” Severus then glided out of the Infirmary, keeping an eye out for Draco hiding anywhere. Where was the boy?

~~***~~

Draco shuffled out from under the bed Harry was laying on. He had slipped under there when Weasley had gained all the others’ attention by going out the doors. Even in the class, he had noticed Crabbe trying to throw something in Potter’s cauldron, but it had landed in Longbottom’s instead. That potion was heading towards disaster already, and Crabbe’s effort had helped it reach a volatile level very easily. When it blew up, Draco had felt his stomach drop to his feet. When the class was dismissed he had followed the man without even realising what he was doing.

Looking at the boy lying unconscious on the bed now, twisted something inside of him. Sure he’d attacked the boy verbally many a times, had been antagonistic towards him since the boy had refused his hand in friendship.

He reached towards the boy, his hand hovering over the other’s before he let it drop. He clenched into a fist and turned to leave when he heard the boy groan. Looking back he saw Potter was moving around, his face contorted in pain, he grabbed hold of the boy’s hand. He let go with a hiss, Potter was burning up.

“Madam Pomfrey!” He called out to the medi-witch, worried as he could see steam rising off of Potter.

The medi-witch ran in, she gasped at what she saw. She tried to rush forward, but was stopped a few feet away from the bed. “Mr. Malfoy, what is going on?” She asked, worried.

“I don’t know!” He exclaimed. “He was whimpering when I came in, I walked over to look at him when the steam started rising.”

His eyes were wide with fear, his hand shaking at his sides. Really, what was going on?


	2. Chapter 2

Severus felt an itch somewhere under his ribs, it was confusing. He was in the potions lab attached to his personal chambers. The potion he’d scraped off Potter was sitting in front of him in different vials. He’d been making a base tester when the itch had started and it only increased in strength the longer he ignored it.

Now, it was a full on tug he felt, as if something was pulling at him, wanting him to follow it. Unable concentrate anymore, he put the tester base under stasis charm and let the tug lead him. As he followed this feeling, he realised it was leading him towards the Infirmary, and he could only say that the reason, as he now understood, for the tugging feeling, was the unconscious boy he had left in the infirmary just 15 minutes ago.

He rushed to the infirmary now, more alert and worried. Walking in, he saw what he had never imagined could happen. Madam Pomfrey was trying to get close to the boy on the bed, and near him stood Draco. The expression on the blond boy’s face made his feet work again, which had got stuck in the doorway. He walked all the way up to the bed, without any trouble, leaving the medi-witch staring at him bewildered.

“Draco.” He called out to the boy, “What happened?”

“He was whimpering in his sleep.” Draco replied robotically. “I just came over to check on him, he was like this within seconds. I didn’t do anything.”

Severus winced at the boy’s tone, clearly he was shocked too. He tried a lumos to check if his magic would react negatively, when it didn’t he turned to Madam Pomfrey.

“Poppy, tell me what needs to be done.”

Madam Pomfrey had shook herself out of the stupor she had been in when she saw Severus easily go past her, when she couldn’t even take a step further.

“Diagnostic, cast a Diagnostic Charm, tell me what it says.”

Severus cast the charm, the parchment which now shot out from his wand did not stop growing till it reached the floor, and he grabbed it as it began to fall. Going over it, his eyes widened at what he saw. Instead of the two ailments he’d seen previously, there was now a long list of injuries which began the day The Dark Lord had apparently died. He quickly shoved it into his robes, he knew Poppy couldn’t see that he had cast the charm.

He then cast the cursory diagnostic charm he’d seen Poppy cast earlier, this parchment was shorter and it showed elevated temperature and magical fluctuations in the readings. He read them to Poppy, showing her this second parchment. He pulled Draco along with him as he exited, what he now understood to be the perimeter set by the Potter boy’s magic against those who might hurt him.

But why was Poppy affected, he wondered.

As they both read over the parchment, the infirmary door banged open.

“What is going on Poppy? I felt magical fluctuations in my office. Is Harry alright?”

It was the Headmaster, along with the two menaces. Were they together all this time, Severus again wondered.

“Harry!” the girl exclaimed, she too was stopped where they stood with Poppy.

Interesting, Severus mused, his one eyebrow quirked up.

“What is going on?” the girl screeched, “Why can’t I go near him?”

“We do not know Headmaster.” Poppy ignored the screeching girl. “We had just cast the diagnostic charm when you burst in.”

Severus knew, if it came to it, Poppy would kick them all out of the infirmary. At that thought, the tug he had been feeling, intensified. He looked towards he boy, or what he could see of him.

While they had been distracted by the Headmaster, the boy had somehow started glowing. The glow had now completely covered him. Pomfrey looked at what he was staring at and promptly gasped. She looked over the parchment, which he had handed over to her, and pointed out one word to the man.

Binds.

The boy’s magic was fighting against some binds that had been placed on him. Suddenly, the glow on the boy intensified to the point of blinding. When it receded and they could see, they all were not ready for what was there, or rather, not there.

~~***~~

“What did you do to him?!” Weasley bellowed, rushing towards the shocked still Malfoy.

“Mr. Weasley.” The Headmaster thundered. “Stay where you are. We do not know what caused the situation Mr. Potter is in now. But, we will not jump to assumptions.”

Severus could see the Headmaster was serious, his ever present twinkle was missing.

“But Headmaster, it’s Malfoy! He always has it in for Harry.” The teen whined.

“Yes, Headmaster.” The Granger girl joined in, “He always instigates confrontations with Harry.”

“Until we have proof that Mr. Malfoy actively did something to cause this incident, we cannot assume he did it.”

The Headmaster then turned towards the two adults in the room.

“Now, what did the diagnostic charm show?” He asked Poppy.

“I couldn’t finish reading it Headmaster, and now it has disappeared.” Poppy explained.

“Disappeared, Poppy?”

“Yes, when the glow receded, I no longer had the parchment, only this.” Then Madam Pomfrey opened her palm to show black smudges on her pointer finger and thumb along with some ashes which had gotten into her nails.

“Very well.” The man sighed. “Let’s cast it again and see what it shows, shall we?”

Thankfully, Poppy cast a cursory diagnostic charm, which showed high temperature and nothing else. All of them looked at the boy, no, the child on the bed where Harry had been laying moments ago. None of them could understand what had led to this. Was it the potion? Was it some magical incident? What was it?

“I had been working on the botched up potion before I came up here.” Snape intoned. “I would like to go back to that so it may be understood if it is to be ruled out or not.”

“Of course Severus, go on ahead, I’ll take Mr. Weasley and Ms. Granger to the Gryffindor Tower. I am sure Mr. Malfoy would like to get away from the infirmary too, unless you wanted something from Madam Pomfrey, Mr. Malfoy?” his twinkle was back full force now, which made both the Slytherins reinforce their occlumency shields.

“Stomach..stomach soother, Madam Pomfrey.” Malfoy gasped out. “I need a Stomach soother.”

“Right away, Mr. Malfoy. Rest of you, if you don’t have anything else I can help with, please vacate the infirmary.” Madam Pomfrey said in her most stern voice.

Snape and the Headmaster left as she turned to go to her potion’s cabinet, the two students following the Headmaster. Soon, she had given the stomach soother to the blond boy, and he was on his way too.

Madam Pomfrey then looked at the child sleeping serenely in the bed, with a few quick wand movements, she made the bed child safe and just for precaution, placed a cushioning charm on the floor around it. A monitoring charm took care of the matter of if he woke up, and she went to her office, paperwork was no easy task.

A word was still stuck in her head. Binds.


	3. Chapter 3

Combing his fingers through his beard, Dumbledore paced around his office, his faithful phoenix mottling on its perch and the portraits frozen in their frames. Little instruments jiggled and puffed smoke all around his office, each having its own purpose.

The night had fallen and Harry, now a small child, still had not woken up. When Ronald Weasley had come to him with the news of Potter being injured, he’d thought it was one of those run-of-the-mill potions accident, not that Severus had ever let a student come to harm in his teaching career, but things happen.

And now, the boy has turned into a child of maybe 5 years. It was baffling, for no discernible reason could be found. Severus had exhausted all the samples he’d gotten off the boy, but no success there either. And no matter what Ronald said, Malfoy could not have done anything, the boy was not that strong of a wizard that he could de-age Potter without aid of someone or something. And nothing had showed up anywhere.

This was a wrench in his plans. 

Dumbledore didn’t know what to do, and that was new for him.

~~***~~

The infirmary was empty except for the one lone child who had been there since noon. There had been no indication of him waking up, so Madam Pomfrey had thrown up a stronger monitoring charm on him and went to bed for the night.

Severus Snape on the other hand, was having trouble sleeping. The tug he had been feeling the whole day was still present but was not as persistent. Even then, he went up to the infirmary after midnight when sleeplessness made him decide to take a walk.

As he entered the infirmary, he could see Potter, still asleep on his bed. He slowly made his way up to the bed, his eyes on the child the whole time. As he stood over him, he could see him breathing, the clothes had been changed to something appropriate for his size, maybe transfigured by Madam Pomfrey. The child was too thin, sure he had seen children who were thin but Harry was a peculiarly thin, as if… no that could not be possible. Dumbledore always assured everyone that the boy was being taken care of, that he lived comfortably, more than comfortably if his words were to be believed. But something in Severus now refused to believe those words.

The child was too thin.

A soft whimper distracted him from his musings. Potter’s eyebrows were scrunched up, as if in pain, he was softly whimpering but nothing louder than that, as if he’d been taught to keep his voice low, lest he disturb someone. That thought sent a shiver down Severus’ spine. He then remembered the parchment he’d hidden in his robes earlier in the day.

Pulling it out he read through it, all the injuries that had started since the day he was orphaned. Why that specific day? He mused.

Conjuring up a chair, he set it beside the sleeping child’s bed. He went through the parchment thoroughly, each line carving itself in his brain. His hand unconsciously went towards the sleeping child, finding his hand; he slipped his fingers through it, his thumb rubbing the back of the child’s hand. Coming at the end of the parchment, he let it drop in his lap, his hand coming up to rub his eyes. He then realised that was still holding the child’s hand. Looking towards him, he could not fathom how the child had survived all he had. His perception had been changed by what the parchment held.

From the day he had been orphaned, the child had suffered through hardships that would break most adults. Broken bones, ribs, sickness that could have crippled him, his eyesight got poorer over the years, reading all that was heart-breaking. For the first time since his friend’s death, Severus felt a surge of emotions go through him.

He got up to leave, banishing the chair he had conjured. A small whimper caught his attention just as he turned away from the bed. He immediately turned back, and saw two wide, terrified eyes looking back at him.

“Hello, Harry.” He whispered.

The boy still stared at him unblinkingly, his green eyes full of apprehension.

“How are you feeling?” he asked.

There was still no reply from the child.

“Would you like something to eat?”

At this the child sat up a bit straighter. “Eat?”

“Yes,eat. What would you like?” the man then asked.

“Eat.” The boy simply answered.

“Alright, Bezo.” He called out to his personal elf, thinking it to be a better option.

The elf popped silently into the infirmary, though he still startled the boy who hid under the sheets on seeing him. Still no sound, Severus mused.

“Get some light broth and bread for the child, please.”

The elf simply bowed and popped away, a minute later the broth and bread popped beside the man, on a table.

“Harry” Severus called out to the child. “The broth is here.”

Harry cautiously poked his head out of the sheet, looking around, possibly for Bezo.

“Bezo has gone Harry, it’s just you and me here.”

“And me.”

Severus could count on one hand the people who had managed to startle him, and he did not count Draco Malfoy in those people, until that moment. Not that he let his godson and student get any inkling about that.

“Mr. Malfoy, what has you roaming the infirmary in the middle of the night?” he asked, barely holding back his scathing tone so as to not scare the already apprehensive child.

“Same as you.” Draco replied. “sir.”

“Oh? And what would that be?” Severus quirked his eyebrow up in question.

‘Harry, sir. I was worried about him.”

Severus’ other eyebrow joined the first one. “Very well, but do not make your reasons mine, Mr. Malfoy.”

“Eat?” Harry spoke up once again. His eyes stuck on the table containing the broth and bread.

“Yes, Harry, as much as you can.” Severus said.

“Help?”

“May I help you Harry?” Draco piped up from behind Severus.

“No. Sevvie help.”

“Sevvie?” Both Draco and Severus spoke up at the same time.

“You, Sevvie.” Harry unflinchingly pointed at Severus.

Draco barely held in his snort, looking at the tiny kid in disbelief. No way was he ever ready to hear his godfather being called ‘Sevvie’. He himself had always called him Severus, even if he couldn’t say it properly.

Severus, on the other hand, increased the number of people who had shocked him into silence in his mind, though he had never expected one of those people to be a child. Well, that’s two surprises in a night, that’s rare for sure, Severus thought to himself. He looked at the toddler, who had put his hand down, but was still staring at him, unwavering.

He cleared his throat, “Alright then.” With that, he sat down on the bed’s edge, picked up the bowl of broth, spooning up some he blew on it to cool it some and offered it to the child.

Harry scooted forward to where Severus was sitting, he did not take his eyes off Draco, who had slowly moved closer to the bed. ‘Sevvie’ offered him some bread, he clutched it in both of his hands as he nibbled on it, all the while Severus gave him broth in between. He could only eat one full slice of bread and half bowl of broth before his full stomach and magical exhaustion led him to fall asleep.

Severus saw the boy struggle to not fall asleep, but finally he lost that battle. He slowly moved the boy back under the sheets and covered him. The child’s face peaceful in rest made him want to smile, but the presence of Draco held it back.

“Sir, what do you think could be the cause of this?” Draco piped up, voice low in the quiet infirmary.

“I don’t know Mr. Malfoy.” Severus sighed quietly. “We have exhausted the general avenues and nothing has come up. It may be magical shock even. We won’t know for sure until Mr. Potter here wakes up and is of his proper age. May be not even then.”

Draco nodded his head at that. “If I may sir, um… what do you think Harry meant by calling you… ‘Sevvie’?”

“Unbelievable”, Severus muttered under his breath. “I do not know Mr. Malfoy, may be Potter can give an answer to that when he wakes up. Now, if you are done with your questions, I think it’s time for you to go back to your dorm.”

“Yes, sir, goodnight professor.” Draco hastily replied, knowing that was one question he shouldn’t have asked. He turned and left before he lost any points for his being out of his dorm.

Severus stared at his retreating back before he turned to the now asleep child. The tug pulled at him once, sharply, before it settled. Yes, had the child called him ‘Sevvie’ of all things? He couldn’t help but ask himself. Running a hand over his face, he left the infirmary. It was time for him to go back too.


	4. Chapter 4

Tom Marvolo Riddle aka Lord Voldemort woke up with a start. Many would believe that the man was more monster than human and never slept, to them he would say nothing. He enjoyed the fear he incurred in people, even some of his followers. The reliable ones respected him, rather than fear him.  
Now on to the reason for waking up, it felt like something had vacated its place in his mind and took up space somewhere along his ribs, dare he say heart? But no, something like that was not possible. So then what was this feeling and why now?

He stood up from his bed, taking his robe off from the end of his bed, he wrapped it around himself. Nagini, who was dozing before the fire, hissed at him as he left the room, leaving the door open. He was sure his familiar would soon follow him. 

Tom Riddle lived in the house on the hill in Little Hangleton, not that he would let anyone find out about that. From a distance, the house looked decrepit, desolate, ruined and inhabitable. Just the way he wanted it. Under the extensive wards he’d erected to make the place impenetrable even by elf magick, the house stood renewed. Its two floors were restored to the glory its previous owners could only boast about. Tom had had the whole house renovated by goblins, for they only cared about gold and customer privacy was of utmost importance to them.

He had also taken up the Slytherin Lordship, not that anyone knew, that too had been kept under wraps. Tom’s bedroom was on the top floor along with his study cum office cum library. The lower level held the kitchen, living area, dining area and some space for the elves, of which Tom had two.  
“Lera.” He called out the female elf, who took care of cooking and cleaning. Said elf popped beside him and followed him as he walked towards the study. “Bring me some tea and refreshments please.”

“Will master prefer morning tea? It bes 5 am.” The she-elf asked.

“Very well, bring the morning assortments, to the study. That’s all.” 

The elf bowed and popped away. Tom had by then reached his desk, opening one of its drawers, he pulled out a few things he’d collected over the days after he'd been resurrected.

On the desk he placed, a journal with a hole through it, a ring, a diadem, a cup and a locket. These were his horcruxes, except the one piece left in his familiar, he’d absorbed all the others. The journal had posed a problem when Lucius had handed it to him; he’d though that piece lost. He realised a few days later, that he’d been clearer in his decision making, that he had not cursed Lucius when the man had given him the destroyed diary. Realising that the ritual he’d done with Wormtail had more than helped in resurrecting him and give him a body.

Since that day, he’d retrieved all his horcruxes, the diadem being the most satisfying as he’d taken it from right under that old goat’s nose. Absorbing those pieces was a task in its own self, calling it rough was an understatement. He’d kept the pieces for sentimentality’s sake, which was something new for him.

Lera popped into the room with the tea tray which she placed quietly on the table as motioned by her master and then popped away again. Making his tea, he sat back in his chair, turning it towards the window. Sipping slowly on it, he pondered upon the feeling that had woken him up so early in the morning. It was something most peculiar and he could not understand it at all.

~~***~~

A new day had dawned but Harry was still in his de-aged state. He’d woken up even before Madam Pomfrey and had startled her when she found him looking unblinkingly at her as soon as she stepped out of her office, her personal chambers being connected through it to the infirmary. She’d called one of the Hogwart’s elves to bring up some light breakfast for the child, which had consisted of a variety of fruits the child had almost jumped on to eat.

Harry had been quiet the whole time, not uttering a single word. Then the Weasleys and Granger came at lunch.

Hermione stopped short for a second when she saw Harry was still a child. Steeling herself she continued on till she came up to his bed, Ron and Ginny behind her.

“Hello Harry.” She said. “How are you?”

The child did not reply to her, his green eyes assessing her with apprehension. His unwavering stare made Hermione fidget in her place.

“My name is Hermione.” She continued, “and this is Ron and Ginny. We are your friends.”

Harry still did not reply.

“What’s wrong with him?” Ginny said, her eyes showing her disdain at being in this situation. She did not want to be here, she had a boy waiting for her in one of the alcoves. Why did she have to be a part of this, weren’t Ron and Hermione enough?

“Yeah, why is he being so freaky?” Ron mumbled, loud enough for Harry to hear.

“No freak.” The boy spoke up.

“Of course, Harry. Ron is just being a prat.” Hermione said, seeing how the young child was affected by Ron’s words. She elbowed the said teen roughly in the ribs, making him cough in pain.

“No freak!” Harry’s voice was now raised. “No freak! No Freak! NO FREAK!” he screamed, bringing Madam Pomfrey to the infirmary hall.

“Ms. Granger, Mr. Weasley, Ms. Weasley, what is the meaning of this?” she demanded, seeing how the young child was now breathing hard, almost gasping for breath.

“We just wanted to talk to him, Madam Pomfrey.” Hermione insisted. “Ron just used some rather unfortunate vocabulary.”

“Whatever it may be, leave now, you are making him unwell.” Madam Pomfrey almost growled.

That growl scared full grown adults, how were three teens to face that. They rushed out of the infirmary as if the hounds of hell were after them.

Madam Pomfrey turned her attention to Harry. The child was now staring at her, his eyes eerily blank, his breath calm. This instant change had her on edge.

“Are you alright Harry?” she asked, reaching out a hand to him.

The boy’s eyes went to her hand, stopping her mid-action. She pulled it back, but smiled at him softly.

“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure they don’t trouble you again.”

With that she turned around towards the door, with a flick of her wand she raised some wards to alert her whenever someone would come to the infirmary.

“Call Sevvie?”

The boy’s voice didn’t register at first, when it did, Pomfrey turned back in shock.

“Sevvie? Do you mean Severus, dear child?”

“Sevvie.”

Madam Pomfrey had to smile at that nickname the child had given the dour man. “He has classes right now. But I’ll send him a message to come visit you when he’s free, alright?”

She got no reply, smiling again, she sent off a message to the man, timing it to reach the man when he was alone. She was sure he wouldn’t want anyone to know about his newly shortened name.

~~***~~

The day had begun as the others did for one Severus Snape, bringing on the masses of dunderheads also known as students. He often wondered why had he ever agreed to Dumbledore’s idea of him teaching in the first place. What had made him think it was a good idea to teach? When he knew he did not have the temperament for it, nor the patience. He had always wanted to create potions, spells, experiment with them. He knew he could be great at that, so why did he not pursue it?

Heaving a sigh, he was doing that a lot, the man pulled up his occlumency shields and devoid his face of any expression, he left the room. Making his way to the dining hall, he saw his Slytherin students making their way to the hall, some even coming back from the hall. They all greeted him as they crossed paths.

Reaching the teacher’s entrance he once again fortified himself, for him, bearing the teachers was on par with the students. Again, he didn’t have the patience for it, at all. But needs must.

Minerva greeted him as he sat down.

“Good morning, Severus.”

“Morning Minerva.”

“I visited Harry early morning, he was sleeping, obviously.”

Severus hummed non-commitally, taking a sip of his lightly sweetened coffee.

“He was calling out to someone named ‘Sevvie’. Who do you think that could be?”

Severus Snape near spat out his coffee and lost all of his composure. Barely holding it all back, he gave Minerva a dead panned stare.

“I do not care for the mumblings of children, least of all Potter.” He groused, irritated as Minerva had almost made him lose his composure. With his appetite lost, he stood up and walked back to the teacher’s entrance ready to leave, not before he heard the woman chortle at his expense.

The rest of the day was as trying as he could have expected it to be. He had prevented two cauldrons from exploding and five more from melting by the time his classes were over. Thankfully, the fifth year class was without incident, may be it was yesterday’s incident that had the class so somber.

He went back to his rooms at the end of his classes, releasing a breath loudly he let himself relax. He saw something shining from the corner of his eye. Turning he saw a piece of parchment glowing on his desk. Reaching for it, he plucked it off the desk.

Severus

A certain child has asked me call ‘Sevvie’. I am sure you know what he means.

Poppy

“Insufferable old women.” Severus grumbled. He threw the parchment in his fire place and flicked an incendio at it. It was satisfying for Severus to watch it curl up into ashes. Letting out a loud sigh, again,this was one too many, he made up his mind to visit the child at midnight. He didn’t need anyone, especially Poppy or god forbid Minerva get a wind of it. They already knew about the blasted ‘nickname’ he was being adorned with.

Mind made up, the man picked up the assignments he had collected and went through them till dinner came.


	5. Chapter 5

Severus had to finish his rounds before he could go to the infirmary. As he got to the corridor leading to the infirmary, he heard voices coming from an alcove nearby. His senses on alert, he melted into the shadows. He slipped closer to the alcove he believed the voices to be coming from. Getting as close as he could safely get, he honed in on the conversation taking place.

“You know you won’t be able to hide this for long right?” Weasley said.

“Shut up, Ronald.” That was Granger. “Once Potter wakes up, we’ll see about you too.

That was concerning, what were these two up to?

“Ugh! Can you hurry up Hermione, I have places to be.” The female Weasley’s disgust was palpable in her tone. “Just give him the potion already; the teacher’s rounds will start anytime.”

Potion? That was worrisome, why wasn’t the boy resisting or fighting them. The way he was, he could easily overtake the two. He straightened up to confront the students, especially the two females who were ready to give some sort of potion to the boy.

“Dumbledore will get his due and so will you both. I just hope I am on the other side helping Harry and laughing at your misery.” The Weasley boy rumbled in anger.

That stopped Severus in his tracks, Dumbledore knew what the girls were doing? Worse, he was the one behind it all? Lost in his thoughts, he did not realise the students had done what they came to do and were climbing out of their hiding place. Choosing to not let them know he’d heard them, he towered over them as they got closer to him.

“Well what do we have here?” His voice loud in the quiet night, it was very satisfying to see the three startle.

“Professor!” Granger practically squeaked. “We were just…”

“20 points from Gryffindor, for being out of bed after curfew, each.” Snape seethed, he could see the boy was uncharacteristically silent; it did not sit well with him. “And detention with Filch at 6 pm tomorrow evening. May be that will teach you not to break the rules.”

“But Professor we were on Prefect rounds.” Granger whined.

“The Prefect rounds have been over for quite some time Ms. Granger.” He sneered. “If you had not busy dallying about with your friends, you would have noticed that. 10 points for arguing with a teacher. Now off to the tower with you; and don’t let me catch you again.”

With that he swept away from them and towards the infirmary. He had some thinking to do and a child to visit.

~~***~~

Dumbledore had been going over the changes he’d have to make if Harry’s condition stayed the same. He could let the boy be and give him to the Weasleys to raise. Or, he could forcefully age the boy back to his 15 years, but that was a risky endeavour as he may not retain his mental capacity if so done.

He could not decide what to do, for the matter of Tom hung over his head, he had already caused him enough grief, he could not let it continue. Then he’d made the boy a prophecy child and now he was de-aged. The problem was, the whole of Wizarding World now believed that only Harry could save them, and he’d helped fan that particular fire. On top of that, Tom had been very quiet after his resurrection, not a peep had come out of the Dark faction. Even the most violent Death Eaters were behaving. It bothered him, worried him.

Embroiled in his thoughts, he did not see his phoenix complete his burn cycle, but not appearing in the ashes as he usually did.

~~***~~

Draco Malfoy sat in his dorm room, unable to sleep. He was worried about Harry, which was something he didn’t think would ever happen. He had wanted to be the boy’s friend since the day his mother had told him the story of the Boy-Who-Lived. Harry would need someone to be by his side when he went on adventures, and little Draco was sure he would be the one helping him through it all. When he was rejected in favour of Weasley, he’d put all that energy into provoking the boy into interacting with him, even if it was negative.

The Triwizard Tournament last year had made him realise how much he still wanted to be beside the boy; and now the potions accident yesterday had made all those feelings come out full force, especially now that Harry had been de-aged. Those fear and apprehension filled eyes had not left his thoughts, plaguing him all the time. And on top of that had been the nickname his godfather had been adorned with, that had been perplexing and funny.

Back to his feelings, it seemed as though the child Harry had made him realise how much he actually cared for the boy, how much he worried for him. But he could not be with the boy, no matter how much he wanted to be; all because of Weasley and Granger. They’d cut off Harry from everybody, let alone Slytherins. The only people he’d seen interact with had been his dorm mates and the professors. He knew they had kept him uninformed about everything, for it was not possible to be this ignorant after 4 years in the school.

He wanted to help Harry out of this situation, but he wasn’t sure how.

Thinking of the problem he was facing, Draco fell into a restless sleep.

~~***~~

Severus Snape woke up with a jerk; he’d fallen asleep beside Harry. Then he saw the reason why he’d woken up so abruptly, the boy was now awake and looking at him.

“Good morning, Harry.” He said, clearing his throat. 

“Sevvie.” The boy stated.

Severus winced at that name,”Yes, Madam Pomphrey told me you’d been requesting to see me. Unfortunately I could not get free during the day, so I visited you at night.”

The boy simply nodded. It made Severus wonder if the boy was only physically de-aged, but then he wouldn’t have called him Sevvie, he wouldn’t have even let him come near him. But this child version of him seemed to be inexplicably attached to him and that was a conundrum in itself.

“Eat?” Harry asked, eyes big and unblinking.

Before Severus could do something about that, Harry froze up, staring at past him. He turned to look when the boy spoke up again.

“Hide.”

“What?” Severus was confused.

“Hide.” The boy looked desperate now.

Severus felt the urgency in his tone and pulled up the wards he generally used to hide from Dumbledore. That was fortunate, for none other than the said man entered the infirmary not a moment later and behind him were the two girls he’d reprimanded last night.

What is going on with these two and the Headmaster, he wondered, why were they together so much of the time?

“He’s asleep.” The Granger girl spoke up.

Severus looked back at Harry, who he was sure, was feigning sleep so he didn’t have to deal with the trio.

Dumbledore hummed quietly, stroking his beard in thought.

“He’s always sleeping Headmaster,” the Weasley girl almost whined. “we checked last night too, before curfew.”

“Seems like he is still recuperating.” Granger gave her two knuts.

“He was awake when you were here yesterday, along with Ron?” The old man asked.

“Yes, Headmaster. May be we should bring him back, he was closer to him when he was… er older.”

“I don’t think that would be beneficial. The boy has been growing too resistant to the potions for my liking. He could break through them and run with Harry.”

“So what do we do then?” Weasley piped up.

“If he doesn’t wake up by tomorrow, I’ll make arrangements to take him somewhere away, not the Dursleys, they’re too volatile now. They might do more harm than good. Then there is the matter of Black and Lupin, I’ll need to tackle them personally.”

“How will you tackle them sir?” Granger asked, a dangerous glint in her eye.

“You leave that up to me Ms. Granger.” The old man smiled, “You make sure you’re ready for transporting the boy when I ask you to.”

“Where will he go sir?”

“That too, you leave up to me, I will take care of it.”

With that the trio left, leaving behind one stunned professor and one terrified child.

“Sevvie.” The boy whispered, his voice trembling.

An invisible hand touched his head, making him flinch. The dour man slowly became visible again.

“It’s alright Harry. I am right here.”

“No Dursley Sevvie. They hurt.”

Only the minute widening of the man’s eyes would have shown his surprise at the boy speaking more than one word. Then the words registered in his brain.

“Who are the Dursleys Harry?” he asked.

“Aunt. Uncle. Dudley.”

“Do you know your aunt and uncle’s names?”

“Petunia, Vernon.”

Severus swore internally, there was only one Petunia he knew Harry could be talking about. If the Headmaster’s talk about blood ward protections were to be believed, it could be none other than Petunia Dursley nee Evans. That despicable girl who had made Lily cry many a times with her harsh words, was now a despicable woman hurting her nephew. What was Dumbledore thinking?

“Do they hit you Harry?” he asked, though he knew the answer if his guess about the woman was not wrong.

Here the boy simply nodded once, looking down. Severus ran his fingers through Harry’s hair, his callouses making the boy shiver, though not unpleasantly. There were a lot more questions he wanted to ask, but he was not sure if the boy would be up to answering them or if he even would. He could guess though, what Harry had suffered through, just by looking at the way he behaved. He should have seen this sooner, but a blindfold by the name of James Potter had been tied very securely on his eyes by a master manipulator.

But no more, now he needed to help the boy, and help him fast. If the trio’s words were to be believed, they would transfer him somewhere. Who knew what kind of horrors this new place would hold. He had to get Harry out and fast, but where would he take him?


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really can't write dialogues... Also i despise writing them... They do not go where i want to lead them. >:(

The Headmaster was at his desk, writing a missive to someone, unaware of a house elf watching him. That elf was Dobby; though he had been given a job at the school itself, the Headmaster’s actions had garnered his attention. He was worried that the Headmaster was not who he seemed, but he had no one he could tell. Except may be his old family, who he was sure would not want to see him after the incident in second year.

Dobby hid himself from the wizard, layered with elf magic, through which his only his own kind would be able to see him. He saw the wizard seal the missive and turn towards his phoenix’s perch; that was when the man and elf realised the bird had been suspiciously silent. Dumbledore sifted through the ashes under the perch, but found nothing. Cursing silently, he called for an elf; one popped in his office promptly.

“Take this missive to Goblin Hammertooth at Gringotts. Give it to him when he’s alone, don’t talk to anyone, and don’t be seen by anyone.” The wizard said to the elf.

The diminutive elf nodded and made to pop away. That was when she saw Dobby hiding in a dark corner of the room. She almost jumped in shock but restrained herself. Dobby shook his head at her, pleading silently to not say anything. The elf didn’t give any positive or negative indication and popped away.

Dobby let his shoulders drop which he had unconsciously hunched into, as if to hide. He turned his attention back to the old wizard, who was now muttering about his missing phoenix and his sudden disappearance, or may be death. But aren’t phoenixes immortal?

~*~

Mimsy, the Hogwarts house elf was very confused. Why was the free elf spending his free time hiding in the Headmaster’s office, was he spying on the wizard? She was very disturbed about it; and also the fact that she chose not to inform the Headmaster about it. Not that she was bound to do so; she was a school elf, not the wizard’s personal elf. But it still made her uneasy to do so. She had given the missive to Goblin Hammertooth and popped back to the school kitchens immediately after it.

The other elves were busy making preparations for breakfast, but the Head elf noticed her standing in a corner, her face showing her worry clearly. He made his way towards her; after all he needed all the elves under him happy and working without any stress. Happy elf, happy food; as his mother used to say.

She was still lost in thought when he finally made his way through to her.

“Everything alright Mimsy?”, he asked, putting a hand on her bony shoulder.

The she-elf startled, testament to how lost in thought she was. She saw the Head elf Knoll standing in front of her, missing what he’d asked her, she said, “Oh! Head elf Knoll, I didn’t see you there. How can I be of help?”

The Head elf now smiled at her, “I asked if everything’s alright Mimsy, now I don’t think it is.”; his eyes boring into her, still smiling calmly.

“I… I saw Dobby, Head elf Knoll.” Mimsy fidgeted, her twig thin fingers knotting together in worry. “He was in the Headmaster’s office.” 

“Headmaster’s office?” Knoll hummed. “He must have been called there, why are you worried about that?”

“No.. he.. he.. He was hidden, by elf magic.” She whispered fearfully, looking around for anyone listening. “And I didn’t tell the Headmaster.”

Mimsy put her hands up to her mouth, pressing her fingers to her lips, as if not believing she’d said that out loud.

Knoll looked at her in scrutiny, then motioned for her to follow him. He took the she elf to the back of the kitchen where the elves made themselves scarce after a look from him.

“Now, Mimsy, listen to me carefully.” He began. “What you have told me, tell no elf or wizard. Do you understand?”

“But why Head elf Knoll?”

“There are things bigger than us in motion dear. I am sure you felt the magic fluctuations the other day?”

Here Mimsy nodded.  
“Then you must understand that this all, that is happening, is very important. So what you saw, you must not tell anyone, not our kin nor the wizard kin, alright?

Mimsy nodded again.

“Good, then, back to your station, and let everything play out on its own.”

With that the two elves went about their business, hoping what they did, wouldn’t have any negative repercussions.

~~***~~

A few hours of restless sleep was all Draco Malfoy had gotten, so one would have to excuse his less than polished appearance. The boy had barely managed to make it on time for breakfast, not that he was late, but he’d toed the line today with the time table his godfather set for his snakes.

There was also the matter of finding a green almost black egg on his bedside table when he’d woken up. That had been confusing, given the fact that only he could see it. His dorm-mates had made no mention of the egg, it almost seemed as if they did not realise it was even there. Leaving it up to his sleepless hallucinations, he had not mentioned the egg either, and left it as is hoping it would not be there when he went back to his dorms.

But there was something off with his godfather today, not that it was apparent. The man had not been as focused on the Slytherin table as he usually was, or he would have seen a couple of late comers drag themselves in. Draco just knew that little line on the man’s forehead appeared only when he was deep in thought or distracted by something that is worrying him.

And something that worries his godfather is something he would like to stay away from, for that was a sign of something bad happening.

Fortunately or unfortunately, he had potions class that day, though it was mostly theory. For the fact the class was only hour long, and instead of quizzing them, the man had the class read through the potions they’d brewed previously, worried the boy even more. So he stayed back after the class to talk.

He walked up to the man’s desk, the said man still deep in thought, did not notice him at all.

“Erm… Professor Snape.” He said in a quiet voice. “Uncle Sev?”

The man startled at that. “Oh, Dra.. Mr. Malfoy. What is it?” Snape cleared his throat, the boy had never seen the man so engrossed in thought, not even when he was brewing a most difficult potion. He was always alert, so what was bothering him?

“I think I should ask you that.” Draco replied, his worry showing. “Is everything alright?”

“Yes, why do you ask?” his godfather growled, rather testily.

Draco knew he should stop now, but the man had him worried for some reason.

“It’s just, you’ve been very distracted Uncle Sev. And… you’re never distracted, not even when you’re brewing.”

Severus could see the boy was worried, but he could not let the boy involve himself, more than he already was.

“Nothing of importance; it’s just some personal matters I need to take care of Draco. Now if you’re quite done, I would like to be left alone.” 

His voice cold, made the hair on Draco’s neck stand. Deeming it prudent to leave when he’d been asked to, he simply nodded, and rushed out of the classroom. Seeing as that he had a free study class for the next hour or so, he went to his dorm, his feet carrying him there automatically.

He threw his bag on his trunk at the end of his bed and plopped face down on his covers. Not that he would ever agree that he plopped, Malfoys never plopped. He heaved a huge sigh, letting out all the air in his lungs, hoping to expel the tension in his shoulders along with it. Turning his head, he saw the egg still on his bedside table. He frowned at it, so it was not an illusion. He leaned up on his elbows to take a better look at it. There was something different about it. Then he noticed a few knick-knacks he had placed on the table had been knocked over. Frowning even more, he sat up to take a closer look.

That was when he noticed that the egg had grown in size.

~~***~~

Severus had locked his classroom behind Draco, he was done for the day and wanted some much needed solace. The day had gone by in a haze, last night’s incidents playing in his mind in a loop. He’d been so distracted that even his godson had noticed.

He went to his personal rooms, entering through a passageway connecting his classroom and living area. He bee-lined to the bar and poured himself a finger of scotch. Downing it at once, he refilled is glass and sat down heavily in his armchair. He placed his glass down on the side table and leaned back, his hands steepled together.

He knew he had to help the boy somehow, but he didn’t know how. After what he’d learned about the boy yesterday, his illusions about him had been shattered. Though it hadn’t affected him as much in that moment; later he couldn’t help but think about it. He’d lost many a hours of sleep on it.

Severus pinched the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes he thought about the options he had. On one hand there were the goblins, he could go to the bank and through inheritance test find out how he could help get the boy away from Dumbledore’s influence. On the other hand he could go to the Dark Lord; but the man was too unstable and too focussed on the prophecy to be of any real help.

The goblins could help him hide from everyone until the time was right, help him until he could find the cause of de-aging and reverse it. The Dark Lord, if he helped, would keep Harry out in limelight so that everything that happened to him would be public knowledge. He may even use him as a poster child for his cause. That wasn’t much different from what Dumbledore was doing, though the boy’s living conditions would be much better. He couldn’t say much about the living conditions if he went with the goblin option.

He rubbed at his eyes and ran a hand over his face. He knew what his options were, but for the love of it he could not decide what to do. His status as a spy had him tied up in such knots that he was not sure where one ended and other started. With all these entanglements how was he to help the child?

The man gulped down his scotch, placing the glass back down on the table; he threw off his outer robe as he made his way to his bedroom. He was in no mood to eat, and no one would actually miss him at dinner. His snakes knew to behave themselves in his absence. With that, the man slid into bed, green eyes full of fear and apprehension stuck in his thoughts, he fell into a daze like sleep.

~~***~~

The only patient in the infirmary of Hogwarts was awake, awake and waiting. Sevvie had said he could not visit him during the day, so he would come at night. He had feigned sleep during the day, except during meals. The elf getting him his meals was always invisible, but the elf always knew what to get him. He had enjoyed them, except when the red heads came in, along with that bossy girl. He did not like them, they made his brain itch, their voices grated on his nerves. He wanted them to leave as they entered the infirmary. They had come to talk to him, but he always knew they were coming. He feigned sleep as soon as he got that icky feeling down his spine.

He did not know how he knew they would be coming, he just did. And the feeling had not yet led him astray. It was like that with Uncle Vernon, when his slaps did not hit him, but stopped just millimetres from his face, but he knew how to fall. As the hand would stop, he would fall back and roll up into ball and not make a sound. He never understood how he did that, though that all changed when the white beard man came to their house once. They thought he didn’t remember, but what he lost in physical protection that day he gained in mental abilities.

He remembered everything after that first instance a year back. The man came to check on him irregularly to catch him off guard, but found nothing. He had gotten good at hiding his thoughts. His special feeling helped him their too.

Harry heard the hustle and bustle of students entering the Great hall for dinner, not that he knew that was where the noise was coming from. He got his meal at the same time; tonight is was a simple tomato and basil soup and a small roll. That was as much as he could eat comfortably. He could ask for snacks in between, the lady in white had told him, but he never felt much hunger, if he did, he had gotten good at ignoring it, thanks to his relatives.

The lady got sad when he didn’t eat much, but she never scolded him for it. She just wanted him to eat more, that was a new concept for Harry. She went away when the lady with the hat came. So he thought she was just another one of those dreams he had, like that one with coloured lights and flying motorbikes and the one with a black man and golden woman. That one was something out of fantasies, like those he read in the library he hid from Dudley in. He wanted to go to the library, it was a safe place, a good place for him.

Thinking about all his dreams, Harry finished his meal and placed the soup bowl back on the tray it came in, the bread roll had been half eaten and half saved for later. The tray vanished along with the bowl and Harry knew, soon the irritating trio would be here. He wanted to wait up for Sevvie, but the urge to hide from the trio was much stronger. So he slipped under his sheets and closed his eyes.

He couldn’t understand why he trusted someone in this new place, maybe it was because the lady in white glowed just a bit more when he was here, Sevvie. The man looked scary in the black clothes of his, but his voice was nice, he liked that he spoke to him like he could actually understand him and he was not just a child. The lady in white helped too, the way she hovered near him, almost coaxing Harry to talk to the man.

Sevvie had someone with him too, but he could not see him. At least that was what Harry thought, for the man never talked to him. But the man always looked at him and Sevvie by turns, his eyes a sparkly purple, like the gems Aunt Petunia had in that bracelet of hers. He liked that bracelet, though he never touched it when he cleaned his Aunt’s dresser.

That was a year old practice too, making him clean and cook. It too happened after the white beard man came to visit. He really didn’t like that man.

The lady in white was back now, she was smiling at him, her ethereal hands slipped through his hair, though he could not feel it. He slowly slipped into sleep, hoping she would wake him like last night, when Sevvie came to visit.

~~***~~

Some hours before Severus slipped into bed and Harry fell asleep, the ever vigilant house elf had encountered a problem. A problem he could not seem to find a solution to.

Sometime after the Headmaster had had his evening tea, he got a reply from Goblin Hammertooth. The unholy smile that came over his face was something that would haunt the elf’s nightmares for time to come. The man had, quite obviously, gotten a favourable response form the goblin. Now Dobby had to see what the reply contained.

His heart pounding against his rib cage, the elf slowly moved behind the Headmaster form his hiding spot. Now the trouble was height, as the table was a bit higher than a normal elf would be tall. Dobby looked around for something he could stand on, for elves could do anything but make themselves hover in air. That talent was solely for wizard kind’s spellwork. Unable to find anything, Dobby started worrying; what if the Headmaster locked it away or worse, burned it?

As that worry burrowed its way into his head the wizard in question stood up and started making his way to the fireplace in his office. He was going to burn it!

Dobby scrambled after him, hoping his footsteps weren’t loud enough for the wizard to hear. But the wizard didn’t break his stride and kept moving towards his destination. Then an idea came to Dobby, he could switch the parchment! If the man made to burn it, he could switch the parchment with a different one and save this one. With that in mind the elf came to stand beside the wizard.

He saw the man look at the missive once more before he carelessly threw it towards the cheery fire burning in the fireplace. Hoping against all odds, Dobby silently summoned a different parchment, and just as the missive was about to hit the flames; Dobby could see its edges starting to darken, he sent out his magic, connecting the two parchments and switched them.

The missive had started to burn on one side, but a stamp of his magic had that taken care of too. Dobby felt the dinner bell go off in the kitchens and made himself scarce quickly, lest the wizard notice something amiss.

It was over two hours before Dobby got time to himself and privacy so that he could read the missive. Not many knew, but after getting free, Dobby had made sure he knew how to read and write, so that no one could make a fool out of him just because he was an elf. Being free had its perks, the downsides he was managing by taking care of a certain someone.

As Dobby slowly read through the missive, his fear rose. This was not something he was equipped to handle. This was not something he could do without the help of a wizard. But he did not know who to trust, who to go for help. And help he needed, sorely.

Not realising where he was, dobby started pacing, as well as an elf could pace. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a door materialise on a previously bank wall. This had to be the Come and Go Room. He slowly pushed the door open; it led to a small classroom. That was perplexing to Dobby, why had the room brought him to a classroom of all things. Sure, he needed help, but a classroom?

He entered the room cautiously; edging his way in. he did not want to find out that the room had connected him to actual classroom and someone would see him. Thankfully, it was one of the unused ones. Now fully into the room, Dobby closed the door behind him, surrounded by darkness a moment before the sconces around the classroom lit up simultaneously.

At the place where there should have been a dais for the teacher, there was a large portrait of a woman. Her robes had the Hogwarts insignia on them, the founder’s colours complete on it. Her hair was long and black, how long, he could not see. Her face was kind, her features sharp. It was her eyes that mesmerised him. They were like a kaleidoscope of colours; mainly hazel with hints of blue and gold. They unlike any eyes he had ever seen.

“Oh! An elf! This is a new one. Anyway, how can I help you dear elf? There must be something serious that the castle brought you to me?” the woman in the portrait smiled serenely at him.

Dobby’s head almost flew off his neck with the way he nodded.

“It is miss, but I do not know who to trust.” He said morosely, his ears drooping.

“Well you can trust me; I cannot go anywhere you see, so I cannot tell anyone anything you say to me.” She informed the elf, her smile a bit dim.

Dobby thought about it, he could see how it would help him by telling a portrait his troubles, that too a portrait whose inhabitant can’t leave the room. But what if someone took this portrait out, and she told them what he’d told her? What then?

He asked the portrait the same, to which she replied, “Even if my frame was taken outside this room, another frame would appear in its place, and that’s where I’ll be.” Her smile sad now, “You see, I have been cursed; in a manner of speaking, and no matter what anyone does, I cannot leave this room.”

That made Dobby sad for the lady. “And if someone brought you a portrait to go into, which was connected to the castle?”

The woman laughed, “You think about everything, don’t you? Worry not my friend; you are the second being the castle has brought to me in a very long time. The castle knows what it’s doing, you trust it do you not?”

Now, as he had no more questions, Dobby showed the missive to the portrait; he stood up on a chair he took from one of the students’ desk. Raising it up as far as he could, he let the portrait read it. He could see the lady getting upset as she read through it. By the end of it, she was fuming.

“How dare that no good, too many names, old goat even think of doing this?!” she exclaimed.

Dobby was sure if she was not a portrait, Dumbledore would have had a very big problem on his hands.

“Elf.” She said to him, “Go to the Potions Master of this school, the school tells me it’s one Severus Snape. He is someone the boy trusts, in the condition he in now, de-aged. Show him the missive, he will help the boy. Help him in any way you can and in any way he asks. Then you come back to me and tell me everything that has happened to the poor child; we’ll go from there. For the time being, you go to the man, now!”

Dobby popped away to the potions classroom as fast as he had ever popped in his life. It made him dizzy for a moment before he gathered his wits. The elf, seeing no one in the class went to the personal chambers, where after hesitating for a moment, he went in the bedroom, where he saw the slumbering form of the man.

~~***~~

Severus woke up with a feeling of someone watching him; years of acting as a spy had him on alert within moments. He kept his breathing slow as he tried to gauge where the person watching him was standing, but he could see nothing to help him. Then the thought of house elves came to him, for only those beings could enter his bedroom without permission.

Worried that a Death Eater had finally used their brain and was trying to get at him; he snatched up his wand, hoping the elf wouldn’t use its magic against him. He came face to face with a pair of tennis ball green eyes; eyes which were looking at him in fear. The wizard looked around, tension leaving him as he saw the elf was alone and had brought no wizard to him. So was he to be transported to someone? He again trained his wand on the now shaking elf.

“State your task or be gone before I call for an elf.” He growled out lowly, his anger masking the dread he felt.

The elf shakily offered him a rolled up parchment. Looking at it, there was no outward sign of danger, but he had not survived being under the service of two masters by being careless. He shot a scanning spell at the piece of parchment, making the elf squeak out in fear. The parchment was clean. He snatched it away from the elf; the seal on it was of Gringotts bank.

_Headmaster Dumbledore,_

_If the boy has not regained his age, then he no longer will. I have gone through all the incidents of de-ageing, and the victims were all better within 24 hours. As the boy has remained de-aged now for more than that duration, it is unlikely he would be back to his self._

_Now as per your request, I have found a family who would be quite suitable. They are squibs who were thrown out of their families. The hatred they have for any and all wizards would work in your favour. The only problem would be getting the child to them; as they have disconnected from the wizarding world wholly._

_But I may have a solution for that. Bring the boy to me tomorrow at noon, to the usual place. I am sure you can handle the disappearance of the boy once again._

_Regards_

_Goblin Manager Hammertooth_

Severus felt his hands turn cold as he read what the parchment said. He knew the headmaster wanted to take the boy away, but to give him to squibs that too magic hating squibs; what was he thinking? And how was the Headmaster going to tackle the Dark Lord; what was he planning? More importantly, what was he supposed to do now? He had to do something before noon tomorrow to help Harry. But what could he do? Dare he leave? There was nothing tying him to the Headmaster, the Dark Lord though, was another story, he had his mark on him; and there were not many people who would help him without Harry being involved. With the boy involved, the number dwindled to none. They would call the Dark Lord first and ask questions later.

He looked at elf, who was still standing there looking at him with its big eyes.

“Where did you get this?” He sneered out, barely keeping the shake in his voice away.

“Headmaster’s office, he was going to burn it.” The elf replied duly. “I switched it out when he threw it on the fire.”

Severus gulped a few times to get his throat to work. “And why did you do that?”

“Headmaster was acting suspiciously, has been for quite some time. He did not even notice when his phoenix went missing.” The elf looked at him, his head bowed to the side. “It was not there in the ashes, it seems it has died.”

Severus did not like where this was going, he was also growing tired of all the shocks he was getting since Harry had gotten de-aged. He looked incredulously at the elf. “Phoenixes don’t die.”

“Headmaster checked himself, phoenix was not there.”

Severus shook the incredulity off him and focussed on what he could do to help the boy; which was to get him away from the Headmaster and anyone who could be under the man’s thumb. He knew he had only one option right now if he was to really help the boy.

“What’s your name, elf?” he inquired.

“Dobby, sir.”

“Dobby, I need you to go to the Gryffindor Tower and bring everything that belongs to Harry, even if it’s a piece of hair; bring them to me. Then I need you to take me somewhere. After all this is done, I want you to come back here and wipe off the boy and I’s magical signature from everything in the castle. Can you do that?”

The elf nodded and popped away without a word.

Severus rushed off the bed, donning his usual attire with a flick of his wand, to his potion’s lab; he had a lot more to pack than the elf. Moving his wand about in flicks and whips and arcs and slashes, he set off a round of spells which made the ingredients in the cupboards and the separate room set themselves neatly into stacks which then sorted themselves into trunks he had specially made for them. He then went back to his bedroom where another set of flicks started off his clothes and personal items to neatly set themselves into another set of trunks.

The living area had a few pieces of furniture he wanted to take with him and some personal mementos which walked themselves into the trunks in his bedroom. He shrunk down the pieces of furniture and stowed them into the numerous pockets in his coat. The trunks in his bedroom had finished packing themselves; back in the lab, the ingredients had too been packed into the designated trunks. He stored is clothes and other trunks, now shrunken, into his pockets; the potions trunks he left as is. He had already used enough magic on the ingredients, he did not want to use any more than necessary.

The elf then popped back into the room with a trunk and an empty cage. The trunk he carried had quite obviously seen better days. Severus knew magical trunks had more life in them than normal, his own second hand trunk had served him well after his school years until he absolutely had to change it out. But this one was almost on his last legs only after four years of schooling. He said nothing, but his eyebrow rose on its own, showing his surprise.

Hopefully the owl will find its way to Harry without any problems, and trackers on it.

“Everything is here then?”

Dobby simply nodded.

“Very well, to the infirmary then and bring everything with us. Take care in transporting these two here, I do not want the ingredients to be spoiled by your carelessness.”

Dobby again nodded and then stretched his hands out towards the three trunks and Severus. Soon the whole cluster of them was in the infirmary and, thankfully, noiselessly and next to Harry’s bed.

The boy in question was deep asleep. 

Severus picked him up, Harry still did not wake. Holding onto him firmly, Severus looked at the Elf.

“Gringotts bank, Dobby. Then come back and wipe out all the traces of our magic. I'll call when it's needed.”

Dobby’s eyes widened at hearing the bank’s name, but he quietly snapped his fingers, and the infirmary was left empty and without any trace of anyone ever being there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, any and all mistakes are mine.  
> Hope you enjoyed this chapter. :)


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys!!!!! Thank you so much for all the support over the past few months!!! Seeing all the kudos and comments and bookmarks and everything this story got, made me so so soooo happy. I am just asdfghjkl... so very happy and excited and just thankful.
> 
> Anyways, without further ado, here's the new chapter.

It was well past midnight when a trio appeared in front of the goblin bank. The guards outside were immediately on alert, it was not unusual to have late customers; the goblins never said no to business. That didn’t mean they would be lax in their security; as soon as the trio had appeared, a signal had been sent throughout the bank, warning everyone inside.

The guards stood in their place, waiting for the surprise guests to take action. They saw the elf vanish immediately after he helped the wizard get two trunks over the steps; he had shrunk one while they had sent out the warning. He was carrying a small child in his arms; that was new.

The man then came over, “I wish to ask for sanctuary.”

Hearing that, the goblin guards looked to each other, nodded and one of them rushed inside. They would need the manager for this.

“Please wait here.” The remaining guard said, trying to get a good look at the two.

The man simply nodded, then looked down at the child in his arms, who was quite surprisingly, still asleep.

Inside the bank, the other guard had rushed to the Manager’s office, as fast as his legs could take him. He pressed one of the knots on the office door, which would inform the manager there was someone waiting outside the office.

Contrary to popular belief, the goblins did not sleep in their offices; they did have personal rooms and families. But that was in a different part of the bank the wizards did not know about, let alone go into it. That was where the manager was at this time of the night.

Soon enough, the goblin in question came to his office, where he saw the guard waiting.

“What is it? Why have I been called at this time of the night?” he growled out in gobbledegook.

He knew the guards were more than equipped to take care of things outside, so why had he been called? What was going on?

“There is a wizard outside, asking for sanctuary, he has a child with him.” The guard replied.

That information left the usually unflappable manager in a state of speechlessness. He said nothing but simply made his way to the doors leading outside the bank. A wizard with a child, asking for sanctuary from the goblins, this he had to see.

As soon as he cleared the doors, he could see the wizard, dressed in all black, well it could be any other colour, it was dark; the wizard had a small child in his arms.

“I have been told that you requested sanctuary?”

“Not for me, for the boy.”

“And why do you think the boy needs sanctuary, and why us goblins?”

“He’s someone important, and someone very much in danger. He’s Harry Potter.”

“That’s even more surprising to me, that you are here, rather than going to the Headmaster. Last I knew, the man was in-charge of all things Harry Potter.”

“That is why I need sanctuary for the boy, the man is in-charge. He is not one to care for him as he is supposed to. He wishes to send the boy to magic hating squibs who had been kicked out of their families. I have the missive with me, but I will only hand it over once you grant us sanctuary.”

The wizard’s eyes were hard as steel, not letting any emotion shine through. He stared down the goblin manager until he nodded and motioned for him to follow.

They made their way back to the manager’s office. The goblin offered the man a seat in front of his desk after he made his own way through to his chair.

“I cannot grant you sanctuary, only the king can do that. For now, I can grant you access to one of the sleeping chambers, for even we goblins do not wish to disturb our king at this time of the night, even for Harry Potter.” The Goblin Manager explained.

The wizard nodded to show his agreement to that offer.

“Name?” a new voice piped up, making the goblin jump in his seat, though he would never agree if asked.

The manager looked over at the wizard, the child in his arms was awake now, his green eyes trained on him. He had a very piercing gaze, almost felt like it was going through him.

“Name?” the child asked again.

“I am Goblin Manager Shieldback, it is nice to meet you child; not many bother to ask us our names.” The goblin’s smile was full of teeth. “Garnok here will take you to your rooms for the night. I’ll talk to the King in the morning and you’ll be called in to tell your tale. Rest well.”

With that, Shieldback made his way out of his office, leaving the wizard and child to follow Garnok.

He had a lot to explain to the King in the morning.

~*~

The next morning, the wizard and his charge were taken to the Goblin King. The child had been very well behaved, and did not complain about anything. On the contrary, he seemed to be in better spirits than he had ever seen him since the accident. That made things easier for him, and worried him too. Easier because Harry listened to him and did as told; worrying because he had never seen a child so well behaved, not even Draco who could to this day, still have a tantrum rivalling a two year old.

It was as if the boy did not know how to behave like a child.

That made him think about where the boy had been staying his whole life. He had always known that Petunia was someone who detested the wizard-kind, but never knew she could be this cruel to a child under her care.

Waiting in front of the doors leading to the King’s offices, Severus thought back to all the events that had brought him here, to the goblins. The letter that the elf had given him was safely tucked away in one of his many pockets. He had Harry in his arms, something in him did not wish to let go of the boy and make him wait standing; he was sure Harry had had plenty of that.

The boy in question was looking around at everything, the intricate designs carved on stone and wood, the goblins that passed by them in intervals. His eyes were in constant motion, taking in every new sight, every new being he was encountering. Severus bid his time looking at the unbridled wonder in the child’s eyes, which could not settle on one thing and kept flitting; like a butterfly from flower to flower.

Soon enough, they were being summoned inside the office, which made Harry’s eyes widen even more.

Behind the largest desk Severus had ever seen, sat an old wrinkly, grizzly old goblin with tufts of white hair coming out of his ears. His skin looked leathery and almost translucent, his wizened old hands splayed in front of him on the desk. This was the Goblin King.

He stood in front of the desk, not knowing what was warranted in this situation. He had never been in presence of royalty, human or otherwise. The Goblin Manager, Shieldback, they had met last night, stood to the side facing them.

“Goblin King Ragthore,” The manager announced. “Master Harry Potter and guardian.”

“Have a seat.” The old king intoned.

Severus nodded in deference, and moved to one of the chairs in front of the desk. He made to place Harry on the chair, but he had a strong grip on the man’s robes. Sighing, Severus changed tactics, he sat down and placed the boy on his lap. He could see the two goblins trying not to smile at the picture they made.

“Shieldback here, has told me the circumstances of your arrival.” The king said, “What I want to know from you, is why did you come to us?”

“Your Majesty, I am Potions Master Severus Snape.” Severus began, waiting to see if he had made any blunders even before he started to explain himself, seeing nothing on the goblins’ faces to give it away, he continued with his explanation.

He told them about the potions accident, the repercussions of it, and the way the Headmaster was behaving and most disturbing, the way the boy’s own friends were behaving. He then told them about the missive he was brought by an elf, who had no bond to the boy, but was still looking after him. He did not hand over the missive, not yet, but he told them about the plans he was in process of making, and how the missive made him decide on coming to them because now even a goblin was involved and he knew only other goblins would help him keep Harry safe. Also, that they would want to know about the goblin who was conspiring with a wizard to harm a child.

When he was done, the office was silent. Harry had not once interrupted him while he spoke. In fact, the boy had been listening to him very attentively. The goblins too, had given them all their attention, and now were pondering in silence.

He saw the king nod at Manager Shieldback, who then nodded back and turned towards him.

“Potions Master Severus Snape.” He began, “Before you entered this room, we had decided to give you and your temporary ward, sanctuary within our walls, on one condition.”

The statement both surprised and made him apprehensive.

“What condition?” he asked, his arms tightening around Harry.

“We will give you both sanctuary, for as long as needed, provided young Mr. Potter here takes an Inheritance test.” The manager concluded.

Severus felt the tension leave his shoulders. “An inheritance test, for what?”

“We have our reasons, Master Snape. We would like to keep them to ourselves until the test has been performed. There will be no charges as Mr. Potter will be taking the test as a condition we have set.”

“Alright, but I hope you understand that I would like to keep the missive from a bank goblin to the Headmaster, with me till the time you tell me about your reasons.”

The king nodded, “Very well. Shieldback, bring all that is needed, we will do the test here in my office.”

The manager bowed and exited the room, hopefully to bring the materials needed and not the goblin guard to escort them out.

Soon the manager was back and had brought a bowl with a needle thin knife and a parchment. Another goblin followed him, who by the looks of it was a healer goblin. Now Severus was worried, why did they need a healer present?

The healer stood to the side and nodded towards the king. Soon enough, Shieldback had the things set up. He motioned Severus and Harry to come closer.

“Now Mr. Potter, I’m going to take this knife and prick your finger, and drop 5 drops of blood into this bowl here.” He said.

“Sevvie do it?” the boy asked timidly from his place in the said man’s arms.

Severus exhaled loudly hearing that blasted nickname the boy had adorned him with. He could see the goblins’ lip quirking up into barely there smiles.

Without saying anything, the goblin manager picked up the knife and presented it to the wizard. Severus set Harry down before taking the knife. He went down on one knee before the boy and gently took his hand. He could see the boy was terrified with the way he was eyeing the sharp point of the knife. He pulled the boy towards himself and turned the boy’s face into his neck. He could feel how erratically Harry was breathing.

Quickly and efficiently, he pressed the knife into the boy’s right forefinger and as quickly and efficiently counted the blood drops into the bowl presented to him. He then gave back the knife and stood up with Harry back again in his arms. The boy had pressed his face more firmly into his neck when the knife had touched him and he had kept his face hidden since.

Severus ran a hand up and down his back as he saw the goblins begin the test. The healer goblin pulled out a vial from their robes and gave it to the manager, who then poured the liquid in the vial into the bowl and proceeded to mix the blood and liquid with the knife. After stirring it five times counter-clockwise, he poured the concoction over the parchment he had brought with him.

The parchment soaked up the liquid as it fell, glowing for a moment after all the liquid had been absorbed. Slowly, words started to appear on the parchment in big loopy handwriting, coloured red of the blood Harry had given.

_Name – Hadrian Erasmus Snape-Riddle_

_Father – Tom Marvolo Riddle  
Bearer – Severus Tobias Snape_

_Adoptive Father – James Potter  
Adoptive Mother – Lily Potter nee Evans_

_Godfather – Lucius Malfoy  
Godfather through Adoption – Sirius Black, Remus Lupin(Unofficial)_

_Godmother – Narcissa Malfoy nee Black  
Godmother through Adoption – Alice Longbottom nee Fortesque_

_Lord of –  
Ancient and Noble House of Potter  
Ancient and Noble House of Evanstorm  
Most Ancient and Noble House of Peverell  
Most Ancient, Noble and Revered House of Gryffindor  
Most Ancient, Noble and Revered House of Hufflepuff (Gifted to the Boy-Who-Lived)  
Most Revered and Worshipped House of Emrys  
Most Revered and Worshipped House of LeFay_

_Heir of-  
Most Ancient and Noble House of Prince  
Most Ancient and Noble House of Black  
Most Ancient, Noble and Revered House of Slytherin  
Most Ancient, Noble and Revered House of Ravenclaw_

_Magical Core Colour – White Gold_

_Magical Abilities - Parseltongue, Animagi, Blood Magick and Death Magick._

_Note: The subject has binds on all his magical abilities up to 85%, if not broken, they may turn lethal._

To say that everyone in that room was shocked would be an understatement.

Severus now understood why they needed a healer in the room just as he lost consciousness.

~~***~~

As Severus was telling the goblins about all that had happened to bring him to them, the Headmaster of Hogwarts made his way to the infirmary. He had a child to deliver to the new parents, the Gleaf’s.

The castle was silent as he made his way to the infirmary. It was not yet time for the inhabitants to wake up. He had chosen this time to carry out his plan because there was no chance of anyone seeing him making away with the boy. Even the portraits were asleep at this time of the morning.

Soon he was at the infirmary doors which he opened by over-riding the wards set by Madam Pomphrey. Honestly the woman was a bit much at times. He entered the infirmary and looked towards the doors leading to the said woman’s private chambers, they were fortunately for him, closed.

Making his way to the one bed sectioned off by privacy screens, he could feel his anticipation rise. The boy was instrumental in his plans, his de-aging had thrown a wrench in them, but he had figured what to do. A missive had already been sent to his goblin co-conspirator, another had left this morning for a certain lord who would soon be locked inside a time capsule. It was an invention of his own; quite genius really. Any person put inside the capsule would fall into a death like sleep and would be woken when the person who put them in there would wish so. It was very much a mechanical version of the Draught of Living Death, only it had a longer time duration.

Moving past the privacy screen, Dumbledore was confronted with a sight he had not expected. The boy was not in his bed. It was empty.

The man looked around, as if the boy would magically pop out from somewhere. He could not believe he had not foreseen this happening. But where had the boy gone? Who could have taken him?

He rushed out of the infirmary, not as quietly as he had entered. Not realising he had woken up Madam Pomphrey, who saw him leave in a hurry and her patient missing.

He knew one man who could help him find where the boy could be. So he quickly made his way towards the dungeons. He burst into the resident Potions Master’s room, not realising that he didn’t have to bypass any wards to get in.

What he saw was even more perplexing. The room he was sure belonged to Severus Snape, now stood empty. There was nothing there, not even a dust mite to tell him that till last night a teacher lived in these quarters.

Quickly, he realised what had happened. For some reason or other, the man had taken the boy with him. And he had taken everything that could have helped him track him down. A thought occurred to him, and he called for an elf.

Even before the elf could ask for what they were called upon, Dumbledore barked out the orders.

“I want you to go to the Gryffindor Tower and bring me everything belonging to Harry Potter.”

The elf nodded and popped away. It had not been even a second when the elf was back, empty handed.

“I am sorry Headmaster, but there is nothing in the Tower belonging to Master Potter. All his things are gone. Lopsy can’t even find a hair of his.” The elf squeaked out, worried what the enraged headmaster might do.

The Headmaster was now sure of what had happened. The man had cleaned up so well behind him that he had not left anything, even of the boy, that could help in tracking them down. He motioned for the elf to leave and made way to his office.

He could not understand why Snape had taken the boy away and where? Then another thought struck him. Of course, the man was a double spy after all. With the boy now out of commission, he had to go to his master. Now fuming, Dumbledore reached his office. He paced in front of his desk.

He had now one option available to him. Call the old crowd and tell them of Snape’s betrayal. That would be the best course of action for him. With that, the man sent out several patroni, calling to him his most trusted. For now, he would keep this news contained to his circle, later, if needed the whole wizarding world would know what a rat Snape was.

~~***~~

One Draco Malfoy, had felt uneasy since he had left his Godfather upset when they last talked. This uneasiness increased when he didn’t see the man at his place at the teacher’s table. Even later, the man’s classes were cancelled by the Headmaster, which made the young teen worry even more.

As soon as he found time between his classes, he made his way to the private rooms of his Godfather. There he found what the Headmaster had found this morning. Nothing.

The empty room before him made his worries intensify. He hurriedly made his way to the infirmary, hoping the man would be there, sitting beside Potter’s bed. But when he peeked in, there was no one there, not even Madam Pomphrey.

In a daze, he made his way back to his dorm. There, another one of his problems was sitting on his bed side table; the mysterious egg. The egg was still growing and it was still unseen by anyone in his dorms. He had planned to get help from his Godfather, but the man was nowhere to be found.

So he did what he knew best. He wrote to his father, telling him everything starting from the potions accident to finding Severus’ rooms empty.

Many thought he wrote to his father to tell him about what was happening in the school so that it could be used against Dumbledore. But that was not true. Only a select few knew how close the teen was to his father. How much the man loved him. And frankly, it used to bother him, how everyone thought of him as a whiny brat who ran to his father at any sign of trouble. But he no longer cared, he knew his reasons for writing to his father, and that was all that mattered to him.

He sent off the letter with his personal owl Achilles. His mother’s love for mythology and folklore had been passed on to him early on in his childhood.

With his letter sent, the teen went back to his classes. Though he was physically present, his mind was still stuck on his missing Godfather.

~~***~~

On the little house on the hilltop in Little Hangleton, Tom Marvolo Riddle was getting ready to call his elite to disclose to them what he had done and what his future plans were. Out of the elite, only the trusted ones would know the extent to which his madness had exceeded and how he had taken steps to counter it.

He had dressed in the dreaded grey robe he used for his snake visage and was getting ready to perform the complex spell-work it took to create a very tangible and believable look.

His concentration was broken when his elf came in with a letter. The female elf knew not to disturb him unless it was an emergency. Seeing the seal on the envelope she was holding, Tom could understand why she had deemed it fit to disturb him. He took the letter from her and nodded at her silently, which she correctly took as a gesture to pop away.

Opening the seal, the wizard took out the parchment which had the following missive.

_Lord Slytherin,_

_We require your presence at the bank with utmost urgency. Please visit at your earliest convenience._

_Head Goblin Manager_

_Shieldback_

Tom Riddle knew that goblins were not the kind to make him hurry for any trivial matter. And if the Head Manager was writing to him, it must be something which could not wait.

Planning to schedule the elite meeting for a later date, Tom changed into the proper robes required. He informed his elf of the impromptu change in his evening and went outside his home to apparate away to the bank.

Once there, the man quickly made is way to the front desk, where he showed envelope, seal side up, to the goblin who in turn got a goblin guard to lead him to where the Head Manager was, post haste.

On seeing him, the Head Manager took him to an ante-chamber.

“Lord Slytherin, given the sensitive nature of the information I am about to divulge to you, I hope you do not mind if I conduct a blood test to check you are who you say you are?” the goblin said.

Intrigued the Lord in question nodded his assent. After a short and quick blood test, which the goblin conducted as they stood, the said goblin led him through the ante-chamber into a hallway.

Stowing away the positive test he said, “I am sure you are wondering what could have happened to make us bring you here with such urgency. Well, there is no delicate way to say it.”

Now, the goblin had led him up to a door, which he proceeded to open. In the room to which he was led, he could see goblin healers scurrying about two beds, both sectioned off with their own privacy curtains. He looked at the goblin standing beside him, who was now holding up a different piece of parchment. The parchment was offered up to him. As he read it, his eyebrows climbed up his forehead. He had only made it past the names of the father and bearer, when his eyes rolled back in his head.

The goblin manager was ready for this to happen, he had another team of healers standing by. This was the second wizard to lose consciousness in a day, in front of goblins, only because a lost boy had been found.

~~***~~

Dumbledore sat at his desk, looking at the group of people he had called up in this moment of betrayal by one of their own. He knew each and every one of them very closely and was ready to wager they would do anything for him; especially the red-headed mother. But then, he thought he knew his spy too, look where it had gotten him; down one pawn and missing a spy in the opposing campaign. He needed to get the situation back in his favour and under his control soon.

This impromptu meeting was taking place in his office in the school itself. Using the Headquarters would have alerted more people than the Headmaster would like, so his office it was.

Molly and Moody had commandeered the chairs set in front of his desk. Diggle, Vance and Doge had conjured chairs to sit behind them. Remus, Hagrid and Fletcher were standing to the side near the windows.

“There have been some developments that I believe should be shared with you.” The Headmaster said, looking around at the people gathered. “Two days ago, due to a potions accident, Harry was de-aged. The situation was under control, until we realised that the de-aging could not be reversed. We were looking at different solutions and what could be done. That is until this morning I found both Harry and Severus missing.”

The room was silent for a moment before everyone started to talk over each other; every voice louder than the last. The Headmaster corralled them into silence after a minute or two.

“I know you all are worried, that is why I have gathered you all here, so we can find a solution to this problem that has surfaced.” The old wizard said, trying to quell the displeasure he could feel coming off of the people in the room. “Right now, we need to focus on finding where Harry is and where Severus could have taken him.”

“You mean to say Snape kidnapped Potter?”, Moody growled out, much like Remus wanted to, on hearing that. “I knew we shouldn’t have trusted that man. Once a Death Eater, always a Death Eater.”

“Be that as it may, Alastor, we need our focus on finding the boy, and finding him fast. For all we know, he might have been taken to the Dark Lord.”

The meeting then went on for a couple of hours, everyone giving their opinion on where Snape might have taken Harry. But Remus was worried for another reason, how was he going to tell Sirius that his Godson was missing?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, thank you so so much for all your support. I hope you liked the chapter. Please leave me your feedback through comments and kudos. Love you all. Until next time. <3


	8. Chapter 8

At the time that Remus was standing in the Headmaster’s office, one Sirius Black was locked up in his own house, unable to go anywhere because he was still a very wanted man. So here he was, practically locked up in his own house.

It wouldn’t bother him much if only he could just talk to or even see his Godson. He worried about him, and for the past few days, the worry was always at the forefront of his mind. He just knew something was wrong with the boy. It was driving him mad that he could not even send him a letter. Why? Because the headmaster thought it unsafe and unnecessary.

But right now, Sirius was about ready to change into his animagus form and run to Harry. He was so worried, he was all but pulling his hair in frustration.

Just one man stood in between him and his Godson and if that man wasn’t so important to the Wizarding world, Sirius was sure he would have killed the man if not less, just to be able to see that his Godson was alright.

Now, the wizard kind thought of their magic as a tool to be used, something that could be moulded as they needed. But sometimes, it was not so. Sometimes, the magic took over, when it knew what you wanted, when it could tell you were at your wits end, it took a hold of the reigns and off you were on a ride.

That is what happened to Sirius at that moment, his magic took over. His wish was to be with his godson, and his magic latched onto that wish and his desperation. Then Sirius disapparated from within the most tightly locked down building in London at that point of time.

~*~

When an unconscious Wizard popped into existence in Healer Mossflower’s ward, she was ready to throw her hands up and leave; add that to the fact that the said wizard was a wanted one.

But, Gringotts was a neutral territory and the man was their customer and they were not bound by wizard laws, there was no reason for them to alert the wizarding authorities.

So Healer Mossflower called yet another team and they took the wizard into the room next door and cracked down on him. The most pressing ailment they found was the effects of dementors which curiously, were still present. The man had been out of the prison for two years now.

Cracking down on him, they worked first on the binds, leftover from his days at the dreaded prison. Cutting through them one by one, they could visibly see the man breathe that much easier.

Then they moved on to the scars he had, both from his captivity and the subsequent escape. The scars they helped fade, one by one, meticulously going over his entire body. By the end of it, the man looked more his age and less like a skeleton. Just breaking the binds and helping heal his superficial injuries had helped his magic that much.

The only major thing left to heal were the effects the dementors had on him. That was something the team left for Healer Mossflower, for they had a couple different ways to treat them, and the female healer always took the patient’s consent before proceeding on either of the ways.

Making sure the man was resting and that there was nothing else left for them to do, they went out and back to the room where Healer Mossflower was. They gave her their report and left as there was no more a need for them.

Healer Mossflower, tucked away the report for later as she was busy helping stabilise the stupid man who thought making horcruxes was a fun hobby and did a piss poor job of re-absorbing them. On top of that, the poor boy, who was apparently his son, was a living container for one of his ghastly horcruxes.

Mossflower was ready to curse the wizard kind into oblivion.

Casting those thoughts aside, she re-centred herself. She was to be a conduit between the two teams who were healing Harry and Tom. They were going to transfer the piece of soul shard, stuck in the boy’s soul, back to its original owner. Mossflower hated soul magick, people did all kinds of dark things when it came to soul magick.

To be frank, she would be very happy if everyone would stop harming themselves in such stupid ways. There was a reason these magicks were to be done under supervision of mentors and teachers, not anywhere any time.

Soon, the team working on Harry had coaxed out the soul shard carefully and delicately. The female healer could feel the darkness oozing out of it and how it was affecting the goblins in the room.

Goblins by nature were dark creatures, so of course, something as dark as this soul shard, so violently ripped from its original form, would call to their baser instincts.

That was where she came in; she was to keep the horcrux from affecting them too much, or they would be reduced to mere beasts, and that would not be good. Concentrating hard, she focused all of her magic into containing the darkness the soul shard held.

They knew the soul shard won’t be as volatile and menacing as it was now, once it was helped to merge with the main soul.

Right now, the man was a jigsaw puzzle of soul shards, and they had to help them all merge too.

Slowly, the soul shard was passed on to the team working on Tom. They immediately placed the shard on the man’s head, where it was absorbed as soon as it touched his skin.

Checking for any residue in the child, Harry’s team helped him transition from the magical coma they had induced to a natural sleep.

Then both the teams descended upon the man to help his soul pieces merge; while Mossflower caught her breath sitting beside the child for the moment. She trusted the teams to handle the merging on their own without any side effects or any complications. She turned her sights to the other team working on the other man in the room.

Severus Snape had some very abstract and dangerous binds on him, the likes of which the goblins had never seen. He had memory binds and charms on him, his magic was tightly bound and someone was feeding themselves off of it. There was some kind of ritual residue on him, which the goblins hadn’t read or heard about; it was as if it was custom made for the man.

The teams working on Tom noticed similar bindings on him. The three teams then joined efforts and simultaneously, one by one they unraveled the bindings. Mossflower noticed, that tricky thing was, they had unravel the bindings at the same time, without the difference of even a second. As they undid the bindings, Healer Mossflower gave Harry a check-up and found everything as normal s it could be.

It took the goblins hours to unravel all the bindings the men had on them, the memory bindings being the toughest and trickiest of them all. The ritual residue they decided to leave it alone as it was something they had never seen and did not wish to tamper with it for fear of it all going downhill.

Now that everything was as stable as it could be, they all went off to take a small respite from all the work they had done. Healer Mossflower made sure no one was over exerted and only then did she go to her office. As she changed her robes, she remembered the parchment containing Sirius Black’s results. She pulled them out and started going over them. The team assigned to him had done their job thoroughly, leaving only one and the most difficult ailment for her to tackle.

Heaving a sigh, the healer set an alarm for an hour, and went to rest on the chaise lounge. She would need to wake up the ailing wizard, if he was not already awake by the time she visited him and inform him of what had and was going to happen to make him better and healthy. With that, she closed her eyes and went off to sleep for the time being.

~~***~~

Sirius Black rested fitfully in his allotted room, his mind wrought with memories. Memories which had been wiped and now were coming back with a vengeance.

And then a memory flashed clearly in his mind.

~*~

_Sirius Black was sitting in a pub, waiting for someone. Not that he had ever imagined that he would even be talking to the man he was currently waiting for._

_Lily had requested him to talk to the man, she wanted him to meet his godson. And Sirius was not happy with that. Lily had chosen another godfather on top of both her and James asking him and Remus to be the godfathers to the boy._

_He didn’t know what was going through her head when Lily had decided on asking him to talk to the man and bring him to their hide out. But she was Lily and he could never say no to her, not after how she had made them realise the wrongs of their ways, lifting the blinds they had on because of the blatant favouritism Dumbledore showed them. They had apologised to all but one who they made prey to their pranks, if they could be called that._

_This one man, he gave back as good as he got. He earned their grudging respect and their blind hatred. But Sirius knew he was in the wrong with how he sent the man to his death, almost. Now he owed a life debt to James, both him and the man. And that debt was heavy. They had treated him worse and worse, isolating him, breaking apart his only friendship and that may have lead him to the dark path he had taken._

_Sirius did not know how he would convince the man of his clean intentions now, that he would visit Lily. But he would try his hardest, for both Lily and his godson. Merlin forbid, he might even apologise to the man._

_No sooner had that thought crossed his mind, he saw the man he was waiting for. Severus Snape, the guy who gave back as good as he got, the man who held his respect even now. After all, wading the dark when the most cruel Dark Lord in the history was wreaking havoc was a feat on its own._

_The man’s blank look turned into a sneer as soon as he realised it was Sirius who was waiting for him._

_“To what do I owe this pleasure, Black?” He seethed. “Should I keep an eye out for your partner, our dear Potter, to jump out and dangle me by my ankles again? Using my own inventions against me, how pathetic could you get?”_

_Sirius knew this would be what he’d face when he met up with the man. Taking a deep breath he said, “Lily wants to meet you Snape. I came here just to take you to her, that’s it.”_

_At that Severus’ sneer turned into a snarl almost. “You think you can fool me with that, Black?” he growled lowly. “Lily sent me a letter at the end of our seventh year. She asked me to never contact her again, and sent back all the letters I had sent her, unopened. Now, why would I believe you when you say she wants to meet me?”_

_Severus turned to go out, leaving Sirius to scramble after him. He caught up with the man outside the pub. Grasping at his arm, he said, “She wants you to meet her son, your… our godson.”_

_Severus stood stock still at that._

_“Now I don’t know about any letters or anything, Snape. But Lily specifically asked me to bring you with me to meet her and the baby. So you need to come with me, because she said otherwise you’ll be breaking promise you made to Rose.” He continued._

_Sirius saw Severus’ shoulders almost hunch over when he said that. The man took a deep shuddering breath and turned to him. If he was someone else, Sirius would have thought he saw something akin to hope in his eyes when he said, “Take me to them.”_

_They turned to a darkened alley and apparated away with a crack._

_~*~_

_Another crack announced the arrival of the two men in a grove near Godric’s Hollow._

_Sirius sent off his Grim patronus ahead of them. Both men started walking towards their destination, with Sirius in the lead. In a few moments’ walk, they saw what was a small church for all intents and purposes. Sirius lead the way in, and there Severus saw someone he had lost all hope of ever seeing._

_Lily Potter, and in her arms was the baby he was godfather to. She was smiling that wonderful smile of hers, which made all his pain fade away without fail._

_“Lily.” He whispered. His feet taking him towards her on their own._

_“Thank you , Sirius. I’ll meet you outside.” She said._

_Sirius was about to protest, but something in her expression stopped him from doing so. He nodded and went to stand near the doors, not ready leave her and his godson alone with the slimy git. Lily gave him an exasperated smile._

_“Severus.” She said. “I am glad you agreed to visit. I want you to meet your godson, Harry.”_

_Severus forced his eyes away from her face to that of the child sleeping in her arms. The boy had a round face, chubby, a tuft of black hair escaping the hat his mother had stuck on his head to protect him from the December cold. His fingers curled to form little fists. He ran the tip of his finger down one of the boy’s cheek, wondering at its soft skin. He abruptly pulled back his hand._

_“Why?” he asked. “Why now? After you returned all my letters unopened, asked me not to contact you? Is this a prank? Should I be worrying about you turning into one of them?” he pointed harshly towards Sirius._

_“No, Severus! I don’t know what letters you are talking about. I never got any from you, and if I tried sending you any, they never reached you. Hell, at times the owls would be so bloody confused they’d sit on my window sill and not leave, looking at me as if I was mad or something.” Lily said. “This is not a prank Severus. I just wanted Harry to meet his mother’s first and best friend from the wizarding world. I could not contact you, I tried. That is why I asked Sirius to do it for me.”_

_Severus looked confused at what Lily was saying. She would not lie, not about something like this._

_“So then who sent me that letter? Who got all my letters and returned them to me unopened, with a message from you to end all contact?” he asked, too disturbed by this discovery._

_“We will figure it out Severus. Right now, hold your godson. He is the reason we have met again. Please, hold him.” Lily pleaded._

_Severus swallowed the lump in his throat, and hesitantly reached out for the baby. Carefully, Harry was transferred from one set of arms to the other. As if sensing the change in the person holding him, the little boy woke up. Fussing, he opened his eyes, his green as emeralds eyes locked onto Severus’ face. The boy then with uncoordinated flailing arms, took hold of the strand of hair that had fallen over Severus’ face and hung over him, and he tugged at it. His eyes went round with wonder as he tried to fit it in his mouth but could not. Lips forming a pout, the baby kept his fist closed around that strand of hair._

_Severus and Lily shared a smile over his head, while Sirius looked on at the scene. Two childhood friends, sharing a moment after so long._

_~*~_

_His mind was assaulted with yet more memories, sliding through one after the other. He twitched on the bed, sweating and grunting, unknown to him, alerting the healer goblins._

_But he was too lost in his own head._

_He saw his two friends, sharing the news of their pregnancy with Remus and him, curiously, he couldn’t see Pettigrew anywhere. He saw them celebrating every little moment of the pregnancy. He then saw Remus and himself pacing in the waiting rooms of St. Mungo’s, waiting on any news from the Potter’s rooms, again, no Pettigrew. Then he saw himself holding the child, the little boy._

_Harry._

_But, there was something off, he could feel his memory self was wondering the same, the baby felt bigger than normal new born babies, granted some babies tended to be on the heavy side, but not by this margin. Sure, magical babies grew at an elevated rate than their muggle counterparts, again, not by this big of a margin._

_He saw all the time he spent with Harry, playing with him, taking care of him, entertaining him as Padfoot. He saw Remus, giving the now toddler ride on his back, a gummy smile on the boy’s face. He saw Pettigrew and how Harry cried whenever the man tried to pick him up, reaching for his Padfoot or Moony or Mumma or Dada, or whoever else was in the room, other than that rat of a man._

_He saw how they tried in vain to teach Harry words, who stubbornly said nothing, only laughed at them as they made funny faces so he would copy them, nothing helped._

_He saw the day he brought Snape for the first time to the cottage where the Potters lived, on Lily’s request. How angry James was at Lily, but could do nothing as she held on to him, telling him how important it was, that she needed her friends too, even if they were slimy snakes by their definition, making James flinch._

_He saw how Snape hid behind the curtain of his hair at that sentence. And how he picked up Harry when the boy came toddling over to him, his arms up in the universal sign of ‘pick me up’. And how the boy had made the dour man smile softly, even when he was being berated by James few steps away._

_The fog in his mind cleared for a few moments._

_~*~_

_Snape held the toddler in his arms, his grip firm as the boy wiggled about in his hold, trying to gauge who this new man was._

_Lily came over to them, and she said, “See Harry, this is your other godfather, like Padfoot. His name is Severus, and he is Mumma’s best friend.”_

_Tears glistened in Snape’s eyes as Lily spoke; but he resolutely held them back, his eyes only on Harry, smiling softly. This was his second time seeing the boy; the first time they had met, the boy was just a baby. Lily did keep him updated through photos she loved to take. But it was too risky to have continuous regular contact._

_Anyone could find them through the letters, so he had told her not to send him the letters or photos. Lily had agreed, on the condition that he would meet with the boy every four months._

_So here he was. After all, he could never say no to her._

_“S…Sevvie?” Harry spoke up, and everyone in the room went stock still._

_Lily burst out laughing, as James groaned, Sirius too, could no longer hold back his laughter._

_“Only your child could do that Lils.” Sirius snorted. Snape looked around him in bewilderment, at the adults in various hysterics. While Harry kept chanting under his breath, “Sevvie"; repeating his version of Snape’s name over and over._

_“Congratulations, Snape.” James said, from his position on the stairs, “That was his first word.”_

_And the look of utter shock on Snape’s face, made even James chuckle._

~*~

Sirius woke up with a heaving gasp. As if his lungs had been derived of air for too long and finally, finally he could breathe. He looked around at the room he was in, it looked nothing like the drab and dreary Grimmauld Place’s rooms.

His questions soon were answered when a goblin healer entered the room. He swung his legs to the side of the bed, readying himself to stand up.

“Don’t you dare stand up Mr. Black. I will not have you undo all the work my team has done to bring you to where you are.”, the goblin who had entered his room growled. Her voice sent a chill down is spine, then her words registered in his mind.

“Wait, you brought me here?”

The goblin scoffed. “No, ,Mr. Black. Your magic did. What I meant was, my team worked hard to remove your binds and scars and any foolish actions like getting off that bed without my approval will not be good for your health.”

“Scars? Binds? What in the blazes are you talking about?” Sirius could feel himself get angrier by the word.

The goblin didn’t say anything and simply passed him the parchment containing the test results she had.

Sirius couldn’t believe what he saw; especially the part about the bind which helped someone to his magic. It was basically stealing his magic and transferring it to someone else. The binds on top of that made his magic lag, as it was mostly siphoned off and the rest of it was not enough to help heal the scars he didn’t even know he had.

He went to conjure a mirror to take a look at himself, when he realised he didn’t have his wand, the one he took from his family house, with him. He then looked up, bewildered, at the goblin healer.

“Told you, your magic brought you here. It doesn’t need a pesky thing like a wand to be able to perform.” The goblin smirked.

He could do nothing but nod at her. “Could I please have a mirror? I would like to see what the changes are?”

The goblin simply waved her hand and a mirror shimmered into existence. And Sirius was not ready for what he saw.

Gone was the gaunt skeletal look he always supported; now he looked like someone who had never seen the inside of a prison. He looked healthy, like he hadn’t missed meals like he did in the prison. He couldn’t believe what he saw. He turned towards the goblin, who immediately vanished the mirror. The image in the mirror had made the man almost hyperventilate; maybe she shouldn’t have conjured a full length mirror.

She coached the man into slowing down his breath and after a minute or two he was no longer in the danger of having a panic attack.

“What do I do now?” he asked her, almost pleaded.

“Now you get an Inheritance test.” She replied firmly. This man needed help, and she was there for him for as long as it was required.

~~***~~

Lucius Malfoy was a man not many trusted. He was a Death Eater, even though he had pleaded that he was under the imperius curse. The man had done what he could to save his family, so there was nothing they could say that would make him feel guilty about his actions.

But when his only son had come to him with tears in his eyes and questions he could not give answers to, he broke. He cried to his wife, his wonderful, wonderful wife, Narcissa who put him back together and helped him face his son and explain to him what he did, why he did it and why he had to do it. Lucius still believes if it was not for his wife, he would have lost his son that day.

Now, the two were as close as a father and son could be and everything was right in his world.

So when he receives the letter from Draco, he is not expecting what is inside. He reads through it, once, twice and by the third time he is rushing through the Manor looking for his wife.

When he finally finds her, she was out in the gardens, tending to the numerous flower beds she had personally planted.

“Narcissa!” he calls out to her, his long legs eating up the ground quickly. He rushes to her and gives her the letter to read.

_Dear Father,_

_The past few days have been rather hectic and I feel I should tell you about what has been going on._

_There was an accident in the Potions classroom two days ago. Don’t worry, I am alright and so was Uncle Sev._

_But Harry Potter was not so lucky._

_He saved his laboratory partner, but ended up getting exposed to the botched potion which had exploded; with the help of some of my housemates I wouldn’t name. I know how you get about me being in any kind of danger father._

_Anyways, the potions exploded and Harry got doused with it. Everything was fine till then; but then Harry de-aged._

_Uncle Sev had taken him to the infirmary immediately. He took samples of the botched potion while Madam Pomphrey conducted tests to gauge his condition. i had floowed him there and did not, could not leave Harry's side this whole time. It was as if something came over me, which wanted to keep the boy safe and to protect him at all costs._

_The de-aging was not immediate, but after some time, he started to glow. There was a sort of magical dome surrounding him and no one could get in, until Sev got there. He was the only one who could cross into the dome. Not even Madam Pomphrey was able to get close to the bed. But here was Severus, walking through the dome as if it was a park. I was inside the dome as I had moved closer to check up on Harry. The magic did not push me out though, so that was a bit surprising too._

_So things happened, the Headmaster came and when the glow receded, Harry had been de-aged. He looked five rather than fifteen._

_What worried me was how the annoying trio and the Headmaster were behaving. It was as if Harry getting de-aged had ruined their plans for the Yuletide._

_The trio was blaming Sev and all around behaving worse than a child. On top of that, they did not stay with him and chose to follow the Headmaster out of the infirmary. I do not understand what is going on with them. How could they leave their friend alone, especially when he has had such a bad accident? How?_

_Anyway, Severus seemed to be more baffled than the time I gave myself pink hair. And funniest of all, Harry called him ‘Sevvie’ when he woke up and saw him. Sevvie! Can you believe that?_

_Back to the topic, I tried to talk to Sev, but he rebuffed me. And I know when it is not the time to poke him and when is; but he seemed so troubled and worried that I couldn’t help myself. He got rather upset and I left him to his devices and went back to my dorm._

_I did not feel good about it, but I did it anyways._

_This morning, I didn’t see him at the teacher’s table, and on top of that, his classes were cancelled too._

_That is when I knew that I had to write to you and tell you all about it._

_Also, there was something else I needed to talk about._

_I found this egg on my bedside table the night before previous and nobody else can see it. It’s driving me crazy, and it keeps growing in size._

_I really don’t know what kind of egg it is or what reptile, bird or being it belongs to, I don't even know what to do with it or how to care for it. It’s all a bit too much for me. I need your guidance._

_Your loving son  
Draco_

The husband and wife look at each other in bewilderment, worried for their son and a man they considered more than family.

Lucius gathered his wife in his arms, affirming to himself that she was there, wishing that his son was there too.

“Goblins.” Narcissa whispered.

“What?”

“If he did not come to us, he must have gone to the goblins. We should go.”

“But what about Draco? What do we say to him? And what about this egg?” Lucius was almost hysterical.

Narcissa gently cupped his cheek, making him look at her, calming him somewhat. “We go to the goblins, we find the answers and then we tell him what he can do; about the egg too.”

Lucius nodded, seeing the logic in his wife’s words. It grounded him, made him feel sane again. So he took a deep breath and gathered his scattered emotions.

The pair then made their way inside, to get ready to go to the bank and get some answers to the questions swirling in their heads.

~~***~~

Remus flooed back to the Grimmauld Place from the Headmaster’s office; breathing in relief when he didn’t see Sirius pacing as he was dreading him to.

That relief was short lived when he went to Sirius’ room and found no trace of the man ever being there. The wolf in him growing panicked at the lack of scent of the man. It was as if Sirius had never been there.

Remus went through each and every room of the place, growing more and more agitated as each room came up empty. His wolf was full on growling in his mind, angry at him for leaving the man alone and now he was missing.

As he went to the entryway, an unknown elf popped up in front of him. His instincts kicked in as he trained his wand on the elf. The creature simply held out an envelope towards him. Not knowing what else to do, the werewolf took it; then the elf simply bowed to him and popped away.

With shaking hands, Remus pried away the seal which he belatedly recognised as being a goblin one, and pulled out the parchment inside. As he unfolded it, he immediately recognised the hand writing.

_This parchment will bring you to Gringotts when you’re ready. Bring everything you own. Please Moony._

_Padfoot_

Remus knew that no one else would use these names, except maybe Wormtail, but he would never be in Gringotts and he would never say please. Also the fact that Moony could smell the man on the parchment when there was not even a speck of scent anywhere in the whole house.

With that strengthening his resolve, he moved to collect anything and everything he could call his own. A tap on his trunk, which was always half packed, ready to leave at a moment’s notice, took care of his meager clothing and accessories. He rushed around, his wolf helping him sniff out the few knick-knacks he had left lying about, convinced that they absolutely had to take everything they had.

Soon enough, Moony was satisfied they had everything they could possibly have ever owned, Remus shrunk his luggage, stowing it away in his pocket and clutched the missive from Sirius in his hand, waiting for it to activate.

Soon enough, just as Sirius had vanished earlier that day, so did Remus, leaving nothing of his behind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter done, hopefully you guys like it.
> 
> As usual, any and all mistakes are mine.
> 
> Please leave me your feedback through comments and kudos.
> 
> Until next time.


	9. Chapter 9

Sirius Black stared blankly at the results of his inheritance test. His familial history was what he had expected it to be, the Lordship was a pleasant surprise. The thing that blindsided him were the number of spells he had had on him, oh and the mate bond was something new too; never knew he had one.

The test did not show who was the caster of the bindings, given that they were so old.

He just kept staring at the bindings he had on his person, it was a miracle he hadn’t gone mad with the personality changes he had been subjected to. He couldn’t understand why would someone, anyone would do that to any human being, to him? He couldn’t wrap his head around it, at all. Who put these binds on him? Why were they on him in the first place? Were his actions his own or were they so drastically affected by these spells that they couldn’t even be of his own design?

He just wanted to scream, but he was too shocked to even speak.

Healer Mossflower was still sitting with him as he was trying to assimilate to the fact that he had been so spelled up, he no longer knew who he actually was.

“Would you like to take up the Lordship, Mr. Black?” that was the other goblin, Shieldback; that was his name. Mossflower had brought him in when he had agreed to the inheritance test.

He nodded mutely at the goblin, he would need the protection the Lordship would provide him, from now on. Merlin, he didn’t even know who he needed protection from. Shieldback slid a small box across the table, black and discreet. He opened it up to show the ring nestled inside; the Black Lordship ring. The ring itself was made of silver, with a black stone of unknown origin set in it. The stone had a raven sitting atop a grimm’s head carved on it.

Gingerly, he plucked out the ring from the box, fully expecting it to reject him even before he could put it on. He was surprised and somewhat relieved when that didn’t happen. Slowly, he slid the ring on his left forefinger and felt as it tested his magic, a slow buzz going up his arm to his heart and mind. As the magic settled down, the tension left his shoulders, he was accepted. He felt surprised and relieved at the easy acceptance of the family magic.

“Congratulations Lord Black.” Shieldback intoned. “Now that that is dealt with, it would be prudent for you to lay low for some time, until we can help you prove your innocence.”

Sirius’ head shot up, looking at the goblin manager with wide disbelieving eyes.

“You think I am innocent?”

“No, Lord Black. I know so and rest assured we are not helping you out of the goodness of our hearts.”

“Oh?”

“Yes. But the reason will be disclosed to you later. Right now, you need to call your family elf and remove all your traces, magical and others from your home.” The goblin said. “Furthermore, if need be, you can stay here in one of our residential wings.”

“What? Why?”

“As I said, there are reasons we cannot disclose right now, but will soon.”

Sirius nodded, still in a daze his mind trying to make sense of it all.

“Kreacher!” he called out to his decrepit elf, who appeared in front of them grumbling about unworthy masters and his poor mistress.

It was funny how he stopped when he saw the goblins and then the ring on Sirius’ finger. His eyes almost bulged out of his head, for the first time something other than disdain appearing on his face.

“What can Kreacher do for Master Lord Black.”

The respectful tone had Sirius gape at Kreacher for a moment before he gathered his thoughts.

“Kreacher, go to the house and bring everything that personally belongs to me. Everything.” Sirius began, the training he went through before his parents gave up on him, kicking in. “Then close down the Library and any other part of the house no one but a Black should see. Make sure that nothing and no one can get in. After that is done, wipe my magical signature from the house, then come back to me for further instructions. I might be in a different room than this one, so follow my magical signature to where I am when you’re done.”

“As Master wishes.” The grouchy elf said and popped away to follow on his orders.

“Now that that is done, what do you wish to do about your mate, a Remus Lupin I believe?” the goblin manager asked.

Sirius sat there in stupor, looking blankly at said goblin as he collected his thoughts. What was he to do about that? And why hadn’t the werewolf told him about their mate bond; surely he would have known? Nothing and no one could stop a creature form recognizing their mate bond. So why had Remus not done anything? Was he under bindings too? Was someone manipulating him too?

That thought took root in the newly recognised Lord’s mind, straightening up, he looked the goblin as an idea came to him.

“I would like to bring him here and get him tested too. I have a feeling he is under some influence too. There is no possible explanation he would have not told me about our bond if he was truly himself. His wolf would torment him until he came to me.” Sirius said, “And I am sure he would like to be free of those binds.”

“How do you suggest we get him here and get him tested?” that was the Healer goblin.

“I could go..”

“No, under no circumstance I will let you endanger yourself. You have been quite recently freed of bindings. We cannot risk the one who bound you to find out and replace those with new ones. That would be detrimental to your magic. You figure out a different way to contact him or let him find out on his own.” The healer growled out, she would not let this stupid wizard undo her team’s hard work.

Sirius sat there thinking how he could contact Remus without letting anyone else know, when an elf popped up in front of him, bowing.

“Kreacher has done what Master ordered him to do.”

Sirius sat there gobsmacked. The elf’s appearance had changed, not quite drastically, but one would not recognise him as Kreacher at first. The elf looked younger and energised, as though he had shed those folds of old skin that seemed to cover him from head to toe. His beady eyes had cleared up and looked brighter that he had ever seen them. his behaviour was not something Sirius had ever expected to change, yet here he was, being spoken to respectfully.

That was when Sirius knew what he could do.

“Very well Kreacher. I have another task for you. I require you to give a missive to Remus. Give it to him when he is alone and when there is no one in the house. Don’t let anyone see you, except Remus.”

He could see the healer goblin nodding her approval from the corner of his eye. He turned to Shieldback, “May I have the things to write a short missive?”

The goblin simply gave him a piece of parchment and a self-inking quill.

Jotting down a quick message, he made to give it to the elf.

“Wait.” Shieldback said. “Write down that this parchment will bring him here when he’s ready and pass it to me when you’re done.”

Sirius nodded and scratched off some words before he added the goblin’s words. He then gave the parchment to the goblin, who tapped it with a long spindly finger and passed it back. Sirius then gave it to his elf, who popped out after bowing to him once more.

Now it was a waiting game.

~~***~~

Tom woke up in increments, his brain assimilating all the information that seemed to have bombarded him out of nowhere. Groaning, he tried to sit up, holding his head in his hands, he started to review what he had learned.

Firstly, the damn horcruxes were not his idea. Why in Merlin’s name would he want to split his soul? The book Slughorn had recommended had stated out the negative effects of making a horcrux quite clearly and he for one had no inclination towards losing his sanity in exchange for immortality which was flimsy at best.

Secondly, someone had literally planted the idea of horcruxes in his head and he did not know who it was. Someone had gotten past his occlumency shields and the protection his Lordship ring provided him. Also, his Lordship ring was missing.

Thirdly, what in Morgana’s name were Death Eaters? It was a stupid name, right under Voldemort. He had well and truly lost his mind.

He had other, different plans to get the wizarding world totally separated from the muggle world. He had plans upon plans of what he was going to do, how he was going to logically persuade the wizarding masses to understand the reality of the destructive power of muggles and how they reacted to anything new, anything they could not control. Knowing that a whole other world was living amongst them, without detection and with power they did not have? Tom shuddered to think what they would do if magic was ever discovered.

He had sat up in his frustrations, trying to make sense of the things he had learned over the course of a night it seemed. Laying back down, he immersed himself into his mindscape. Everything was scattered, knowing what he had to do, he slowly began to pull all the scattered memories of his and painstakingly began sorting through them.

It was going to be a long day.

~*~

On the other side of the room, hidden by the privacy screen Tom had subconsciously ignored, was another man who was going through something similar to him.

Potions Master Severus Snape was not taking everything well.

As soon as he had woken up, he had noticed his muddled thoughts, then he had noticed the privacy screen on one side of his bed. His paranoia, which came hand in hand with his spying, kicked in. So, he did what anybody in his situation would do. Slowly getting up, he moved towards the screen, something in him was pushing him towards whatever was on the other side of it.

Carefully, he made his way around it, but nothing could have prepared him for what was on the other side.

A small child lay on the bed on the other side. He had black hair, long enough to be scattered around his head in the imitation of a halo. He looked no younger than five years. Another child’s face flashed in his head.

Harry.

It was Harry, but somehow different? What had happened? Why were his occlumency shields down? He sat down heavily beside the boy he now recognised. His mind going a mile a minute. He needed to get everything organised, his mind was in shambles. It had never been this bad even before he had learned the art of occluding and organising his mindscape.

Someone had taught him, someone he had grown close to, even loved.

His eyes shot open at that, not having realised he had closed them. There was another privacy screen on the other side of Harry’s bed. Getting up, he made his way towards it. wondering who could they be sharing the room with.

He saw a man, younger than him maybe, sitting up, his face contorted in concentration. He knew that face, but how? He wracked his brain for answers, but it was so jumbled up, it only resulted in giving him a headache.

Then, he caught hold of something, a memory, long lost.

~*~

_It was raining._

_Severus looked out the window. It was raining cats and dogs. He was worried. Marvolo had not yet returned. He rubbed a palm over his swollen belly, the baby was restless and kicking. He had already been to the bathroom too many times to count. Where was Marvolo? He was supposed to be back two hours ago. He slowly stood up and started pacing, maybe he would get tired and then so would the baby._

_A chime at the door broke his train of thought. Walking as fast as he could in his state, he went to the door and opened it._

_Marvolo stood outside, waiting for his husband to greet him. He gathered Severus in his arms as he entered the house. Planting a solid kiss on his husband’s lips, he kneeled down in front of him and gave a kiss to his belly, where his child rested. They had been so happy when the potion had worked. Their magical cores were compatible, but there was always a chance of it not working. But as Severus had created the potion himself, Marvolo had strong confidence on the potion and in his husband’s capabilities._

_He heard himself speaking, but it was as if he was speaking underwater. Marvolo looked up at him, and even he seemed perplexed. Everything looked muddled, slowly blurring as though looking through a frosted glass._

_And then he opened his eyes._

~*~

_“You seem restless today.” Marvolo said, setting aside the book he had been reading, his eyes firmly on his pacing husband. Severus had been pacing a lot today, one hand supporting his belly, the other on his lower back, rubbing at it a bit._

_“I’m having these pains since morning. They keep coming back in intervals.” Severus said._

_“And you did not tell me, why?” Marvolo asked, quirking an eyebrow._

_“It was mild a few minutes ago, now I’m not so sure.” He stopped suddenly, feeling a pop like sensation in his lower abdomen. “Marvolo, call the Healer! The baby is coming.” With that, it was a flurry of action._

_Marvolo sent a patronus to their healer, asking him to come at once. Then he helped his husband to the room they had prepared specifically for this occasion. Laying him down on the bed, he went about getting the things ready, as the healer had asked him to beforehand. By the time he was done, the healer had arrived. He was asked to remain by his husband’s side as the baby would need them both while its magic stabilised as soon as it was born._

_After two hours, their baby boy was born. His magic swirling around the three of them as the healer left the room to let them bond._

_“Did you think of a name?” Severus asked, his eyes not leaving the face of their baby boy._

_“How does Erasmus sound?” Marvolo asked, he too entranced by the sight of their sleeping boy._

_“Hadrian Erasmus Riddle?” Severus said._

_“Hadrian Erasmus Snape-Riddle, our beautiful boy.”_

_Marvolo gathered them both close, placing a chaste kiss on Severus’ lips and kissing his baby boy’s head. He felt peaceful._

~*~

_“You think we’ll ever find him?” Severus asked, as he lay in bed with his husband at night._

_“I’d like to believe we will.” Marvolo replied softly, his arm tightening around Severus’ waist. “And I won’t give up until we do.”_

_Severus simply nodded. It had been over two weeks now, that their child had been taken from them, by none other than Albus Dumbledore. Severus knew the man was not who he propagated himself to be. The old man had invaded their home, rendered them incapable of fighting and taken their child, all right in front of their eyes. Severus never knew he could feel so broken, again, when he saw his child being taken away. There was nothing they could do to Dumbledore, the man was too adored by the masses, so they had taken it upon themselves to find their child, anyhow, anyway._

_Sleep descended over the two, albeit a bit reluctantly, they succumbed to it. Unaware of the fact that the same man who had taken their son away, was now going to separate them too._

_There was an almost evil glint in Dumbledore’s eyes, as he entered the sleeping couple’s house. Wand at ready to defend himself if need be. After all he needed them to be divided for his plans to work. In the end, it was all for the greater good._

~*~

Severus shot up in bed, a sense of deja-vu clouding his mind. He let his head fall into his hands, breath heaving as if he had run a marathon.

What were those memories? Married to a man, Marvolo, and a child, Hadrian.

“Harry!” he exclaimed. Looking around, he was in a bed, again. The screen was on the wrong side. He climbed out of the bed, scrambling past it to the bed on the other side, where Harry was.

There was a man sitting beside him, hearing him scramble to their side, he turned to Severus, his eyes glassy with tears.

“Hello, Severus.”

Seeing his face, there was no denying it.

“Marvolo.” He whispered; voice barely audible.

~~***~~

Close to two hours had passed since Sirius had sent his message through Kreacher and there was no sign of Remus, yet. 

He had begun pacing in restlessness, his mind going a mile a minute, creating scenarios where everything would go to hell. The two goblins had left once the message had been sent to be delivered. So he was alone with his thoughts spiralling.

Soon enough there was a knock at his door; a young goblin entered the room.

“Lord Black, your presence is requested by Goblin Shieldback.” He intoned, looking at him passively.

Sirius nodded at the goblin and motioned for him to lead the way. Soon they were walking down the hallways to the goblin manager’s office. The young goblin knocked on the door and opened it, ushering the man inside and closed the door after him. The young goblin then stood outside the door with the guards.

Inside the room, Healer Mossflower and Manager Shieldback waited for him, along with Remus.

The man turned towards him on hearing the door open. Then, it was as if the world was frozen. Remus’ eyes flashed a golden colour, Moony peeking through for a moment and then the werewolf had him in his arms.

Moony had crossed the room in a flash and gathered Sirius in a hug and then it was as if the last puzzle piece had been placed. A glow surrounded the both of them, dousing them in silver coloured light. Sirius had never felt so complete in his whole life. It felt as if a missing piece of his soul had been returned to him.

Shieldback cleared his throat pointedly, bringing the both of them back to present. Moony growled lowly, but let Remus take the reins for the moment. Said man broke the embrace but kept a hold of Sirius’ hand. Both of them made their way to the goblin manager’s desk where Remus made sure to seat Sirius before he took a seat for himself. Grabbing hold of the man’s hand as soon as they both were settled.

“Now that the both of you are here, let us begin.” Shieldback said, a small smile on his face, or as close of a smile a goblin can have.

“Mr. Lupin, Lord Black here has taken an Inheritance test and undergone a cleanse. If you wish, same can be made available for you.”

“For a fee of course?” Remus interjected, his hold tightening on Sirius’ hand.

“No, Mr. Lupin. We believe that by helping certain people, we’ll be helping ourselves. So, for a few selective people we will be waiving the fees for such tests as needed. Do understand, we are doing this for our own benefit. If we lose some galleons in the process, then so be it. We are more interested in the bigger picture.” Shieldback explained, leaning forward on his desk.

The tension left Remus’ shoulders but his hold on Sirius’ hand was as secure as it could be. He nodded at the goblin, indicating his agreement.

Soon enough, the test was done and another cleansing ritual was performed. This one more inclined towards the werewolf kind; the goblins were more versatile in that way.

The goblins then led the wizards to the room allotted to Sirius where another bed had been brought in for Remus to use. As they entered the room, Moony pushed through again. The werewolf headed straight for the beds and pushed them together before abruptly pulling back. Remus stumbled at the sudden appearance and disappearance of his counterpart.

He sat down heavily on the now joined beds. Sirius rushed to his side, placing a hand on his shoulder as the werewolf closed his eyes, trying to gain some composure.

“So.. Mates huh?”

Remus let out a startled laugh as he opened his eyes to look up at the man fate had decided was his to spend the rest of his life with; given the man wanted the same.

“Yes, Sirius. We are mates. I apologise...”

“I understand Remus. I may act like a buffoon half the time and like a baby throwing a temper tantrum the other half; but I understand.”

Sirius sat down beside him, his hand still on Remus’ shoulder. He looked at the man he’d known for almost the whole of his life, he saw the young terrified boy he’d first seen on the Hogwarts train. Some days the little boy still peeked through, scared that everyone around him would turn on him.

He could see that little boy now, in the curves of Remus’ shoulders, the way he clenched his hands and his eyes cast down, not wanting to initiate eye-contact.

He moved his hand to the other shoulder, pulling Remus close in a sideways hug. There was a long way ahead of them, especially if they were to figure out why the goblins were helping them at all.

~~***~~

Lord and Lady Malfoy were a couple that preferred to divide their tasks and be done as quickly as possible. That practice had only helped them once the whole Dark Lord debacle had happened.

Today was different in a way that after a long time they were both going to the bank together. It wasn’t as though that never happened; it just had been quite some time since they had done that.

As soon as they entered the bank, they discreetly made their way to the Malfoy account manager’s office. They knocked and patiently waited to be let in, knowing how much goblins preferred to take their time and test the wizard kind.

Soon enough, the door opened and a voice bid them to enter.

“Ah, Lord Malfoy, Lady Malfoy. How can Gringotts be of service today?” their account manager Silveraxe asked, his face set in his familiar expression of showing no emotion.

“Manager Silveraxe,” Lucius greeted. “We would like to request your help in finding a dear friend of ours. He has left his place of employment and didn’t contact us, which is very unusual.”

“And you believe we can help you find this friend of yours?” The manager now had a sneer on his face.

“We have reason to believe he might have come here to ask Gringotts for help, same as we have.” Narcissa interjected, knowing how her husband got when it came to someone, he considered a friend, especially Severus.

Silveraxe leaned back in his chair, looking at the both of them shrewdly.

“If you would please follow me.” He said, getting off his seat and moving towards the door.

He took them down the hallway where his office was situated to another office, this one belonging to another account manager.

“Please wait here.” He said as he opened the door to the office and went in.

The couple looked at each other, a bit of apprehension and nervousness showing in their eyes before Narcissa placed her hand in the crook of Lucius’ elbow and just like that, those emotions were hidden away.

They waited for not more than a few minutes before the door opened and yet another voice bid them to enter.

Inside the office, along with their account manager were two other goblins. The plaque on the desk displayed the name, Shieldback, so this must be his office. The other goblin sitting alongside their account manager, was wearing white clothes, making the couple wonder if the goblins had their own version of healers.

The goblin sitting behind the desk, Shieldback, bid them to take a seat.

“I have been informed that you seek our help to find an acquaintance of yours?” he said.

“Not acquaintance, Master Shieldback,” Lucius said, his voice somber. “a brother in all but blood.”

The goblin looked at them pensively, his eyes boring into them, it felt as if his gaze went through them, poking around in their very conscious. Narcissa tightened her hold on her husband. Such silences never brought good tidings.

“Name?” this was their own account manager.

“Severus Snape.” Lucius replied.

And at once it felt like the air had been sucked out of the room.

“Lord and Lady Malfoy.” Shieldback brought their attention to him, his voice and expression not giving anything away. “I believe we need to have a long talk before we help you in your endeavor.”

“Not before you accept to go through a purge, if I may suggest.” The Healer goblin piped up.

The Malfoys did not know what to make of this, but they understood that something was at play and they needed all their wits about them. they looked at each other, a silent communication taking place.

Turning to the goblins Narcissa said. “When do we begin?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my muse does not like me and keeps deserting me
> 
> I hope you enjoy the new chapter
> 
> and I hope my muse comes back soon
> 
> if you see her, tell her I miss her
> 
> please leave me your feedback through kudos and comments
> 
> they replenish my soul 
> 
> as always, any and all mistakes are mine
> 
> enjoy!!!


End file.
